


Artificial

by Spingtail



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Amputation, Angst, Do Not, Everyone Needs A Hug, Gaster is the dorkster dadster who's actually a pretty badster asster, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, NOT A KINK NO, Papyrus Needs A Hug, Papyrus is included in the angst for once, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-10-14 22:04:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10545082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spingtail/pseuds/Spingtail
Summary: Papyrus seems pretty pure and happy, right? Well, what if we rip that away from him? Have you ever wondered how the character so against killing would react if he got dust on his own hands?Gaster comes back. No one is happy with this.





	1. Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> ALRIGHt so this is my first ever Undertale fanfic! Yay!! It's also my first time writing stuff having anything to do with stutters, trauma, fighting, etc, so if anyone has any tips, that'd be very appreciated! Also, I'm not sure if that "Graphic Depictions of Violence" is actually accurate, but I suppose it depends more on your opinions on what that could mean! Anyway, hope you enjoy! Or cry. Either is good.

Alphys fiddled around with the large machine that had no specified purpose; she had just started building it one day, only ever adding onto it when she was bored and had no other more important projects to work on. She added some wiring, a few more internal fans, anything she could imagine that could get this machine to  _ do  _ something. She plugged it into a nearby outlet on the wall and, hoping it wouldn't take too much of the lab’s power, flipped the switch that would normally have very little effect.

She squeaked a bit as it whirred to life, much louder than it would on previous attempts. It shook and rattled, occasionally making a loud crashing noise from the inside that hurt her ears. Fearful the machine may backfire and explode, Alphys turned over a table close to her and knelt behind it, barely poking her eyes above the edge. Just as she had thought it would, the machine began breaking apart, occasionally shooting pieces of metal to random parts of the lab. One of her favorite anime mugs was unfortunate enough to get hit and shatter into pieces, and she frowned. She had created a thing of absolute destruction. And yet, she made no effort to turn it off as she remained behind the table, watching the machine with alert eyes as a strange black goopy substance began to leak out. She was pretty confused at that, considering she hadn't put any oil into the machine. She didn't have much time to ponder it, though, as the loud internal crashes started getting louder and louder, hurting the monster’s ears to no extent. She covered her ears and ducked when the flying pieces of metal became more airborne, some even penetrating her table. She squeezed her eyes shut as the room suddenly enveloped in a bright light, an infinitely louder crash ringing throughout the room. Alphys curled her tail around herself, hoping the machine would just  _ break _ already. Either that, or that the lab would run out of power. She didn't care which.

Finally, as if her prayers had been answered, the chaos ceased. Alphys hesitantly looked up over the edge of the table, eyes wide, alert and very cautious. It was dark, so she assumed the lab’s power had gave out. Seeing as there hadn't been a huge effect in the lab other than that, she sighed heavily with relief.

Her relief was quickly put to a halt when she heard movement coming from another part of the lab.

Her eyes whipped around to the source of the movement, filled with caution. Her hand ghosted over her phone, ready to call someone (most likely Undyne) if need be. She couldn't see much, but as her eyes adjusted to the darkness she saw the silhouette of a man standing there, facing her. She froze up, not knowing what to do. She should have called Undyne but she didn't. She couldn't move, why couldn't she move, move move  _ move. _ The two of them seemed to be having an unannounced staring contest before Alphys finally got the “courage” to speak up.

“Wh-huh-Who are y-you? And wha-what a-are you d-duh-doing here? In my l-lab, house, th-thing?” She squeaked, sounding more like a whimsun than the courageous scientist she had been going for. She mentally slapped herself for sounding like an idiot.

The man seemed to hesitate for a few seconds, and Alphys thought that maybe she had actually made him nervous. Nope.

“Ah, my apologies,” he said, voice cool, slick, and deep, “It's been quite a while since I last saw a real organism that wasn't a figment of my own imagination. Most of the time I just stare at them until they leave.”

“I.. w-what?” Alphys said, confused to no end. She shook her head. “Th-that doesn't answer my q-question! Who are you, a-and what are you d-doing here?”

The man chuckled, and she tensed up as he walked over to her table. He stopped right in front of her.

“My name is W.D. Gaster,” he said, “And I believe that there is plenty of explaining to be done. Please,” -he walked over to another table as if he knew the lab like the back of his hand- “have a seat with me. It will be much easier to talk face to face.”

 

* * *

 

Alphys stared ahead, trying to wrap her mind around this strange story.

“So, f-from what I understand,” she started, rubbing her temples, “You’re Sans and Papyrus’ dad? And you used to be the royal scientist, b-but some weird, uh, freak a-accident happened and you were, uh, za-zapped out of existence?”

All Gaster did was nod.

“Jeez, th-that must’ve been p-pretty, uh, pre-prettyy hard,” she said, “being separated from your family a-and all that.”

He nodded again.

“All I really want to do as of now is see them again,” Gaster said, sighing, “But I don’t suppose you could really help with that.”

“A-actually!! I!! Think I can!!” Alphys perked up, happy to help, “I have their phone numbers! I can call them over if you want!” She offered. Gaster’s face lit up nearly instantly.

“You can? Well, by all means, please do!” He said, smiling excitedly. Alphys couldn’t help but smile back. Yikes, the skeleton brothers’ dad was a huge  _ dork _ .

She took her phone out and got ready to call, but stopped. She knew this was important, but was it  _ too  _ important to text instead of call? She must’ve taken a bit too long deciding, because Gaster grew impatient.

“Is something wrong?” He asked, raising a brow. 

“Oh, no! Of course not, I j-just, ugh..” Alphys stammered, knowing she seemed ridiculous now. “I really,  _ really  _ hate c-calling people. You wouldn’t, um, w-wouldn’t mind if just, hehhe, texted them instead, w-would you..?” Her voice faded out awkwardly. 

“Ohh, I see,” Gaster sighed, smiling a bit, yet Alphys noticed it was a bit strained. “Of course you can text them. Whichever will get them here faster.”

She nodded, pulling up Sans’s contact to text him.  
  


**Alphys:** hey Sanspai =^.^=

**sans:** oh my god stop calling me that already

**Alphys:** i know you love it lmao

**Alphys:** anyway

**Alphys:** you need to come to the lab asap

**Alphys:** and bring Papyrus

**sans:** why

**Alphys:** can’t explain rn but just do it dude it’s important

**sans:** so important that you can’t tell me what’s happening?

**sans:** wait i see what’s going on here

**sans:** al my birthday was over 3 months ago don’t you think it’s a bit late to throw a surprise party

**sans:** pap’s birthday is like 5 months away too so you can’t convince me it’s for him either

**sans:** unless you just fucked up really bad and need my help lmao

**Alphys:** oh my god just stop being a smartass and get over here already

**sans:** alright alright

**sans:** gimme a sec to get pap and we’ll be there soon or smth

**Alphys:** thanks Sanspai =^w^=

**Sans:** actually nevermind fuck you

**Alphys:** =;n;=

 

Alphys put away her phone, smiling a bit to herself.

“They’ll be here soon,” she said to Gaster, who had apparently been reading over her shoulder, brow raised.

“You two have..” He paused, trying to think of the right words, “..very interesting conversations.”

Alphys laughed a bit, “I guess we do.”

Not much later, there was knocking at the lab door. Alphys went over and opened it to Sans and Papyrus standing outside.

“HELLO, DOCTOR ALPHYS! WE HAVE ARRIVED!!”  Papyrus said, smiling wide. Alphys let the two inside.

“H-hey, guys, thanks for coming on such short notice,” Alphys said back. “Like I said, i-it’s pretty important.”

“NOT A PROBLEM AT ALL! SANS AND I HAVE LITERALLY NOTHING BETTER TO DO!”  He responded matter-of-factly.

“why’s it so dark in here?”  Sans asked, looking around.  “did all the lights break or somethin’?”

“Power outage. One of my machines k-kinda, uh, broke it,” She said. 

“welp, called it,”  he said, smirking,  “you fucked up.”

“LANGUAGE!” Papyrus chastised, while Sans snickered.

“A-anyway! I!! Have a surprise!! F-for you!! Two!!” Alphys started, already excited for the heart-warming family reunion that she just  _ knew _ was about to take place. She gave Gaster the signal for him to come out of his hiding spot, that part having been Alphys’ idea for a more dramatic affect.

As Gaster walked out, Alphys grinned. She watched as the skelebros froze up, but then, their eyesockets filled with life and joy and they ran over to their amazing, dorky, immensely caring and loving father who they had been missing for  _ years  _ and tackled him in a hug--

 

Except that didn't happen.

 

She waited for something to happen, beginning to fidget awkwardly. All they were doing was staring at each other. The brothers seemed to completely tense up, in both disbelief mixed with a sense of.. fear? Alphys could hardly believe it. Why would they be  _ scared _ of Gaster, their own father? He didn't seem like the type of person to beat his children or terrorize them in any way, unless he was a really,  _ really _ good actor. She hoped she was wrong.

Papyrus looked like he was trying to remember something,  _ anything _ that could justify his sense of fear as he nervously fidgeted with the cuff of his glove. Sans looked like an icecube, having completely dropped his laid back persona and staring at Gaster with wide, fearful eyesockets. Neither of them made a sound as the elder skeleton walked toward them with a smirk on his face.

“Thank you for calling them over, Alphys. Would you mind giving us some time alone? To talk, I mean,” Gaster asked, looking over at her with his hands folded behind his back. With the way he was looking at her, she had a feeling, even if she said no, she wouldn't have a choice. His eyes said “You have thoroughly fucked your friends. Good job.”

..or maybe that was just her own mind. Same difference. She glanced at Sans and Papyrus, both giving her silent pleads, saying “No, don't go, please don't leave us with him.” This time, she knew it wasn't her mind talking. Their eyes were wide and alert, and yet both seemed to be trying to hide it. Either way, she knew they were scared. She didn't want to leave them. But she didn't know what Gaster would do if she didn't. She was taking too long to decide.

“Ahem. Do I need to repeat myself?” Gaster spoke up, sounding impatient. “Give us some time alone.”

She blinked at his more forceful tone. Finally, though, she made up her mind. She's a coward. She'd just go into the next room over and call Undyne if anything happens. Hopefully, though, it wouldn't come to that. As she went, she tried to ignore the brothers’ look of shared dismay.

 

* * *

 

“Well, if it isn't my two most beloved sons in the world,” Gaster said, smirking.

“w-why are you, uhh--”  Sans began, voice shaky despite his attempts to keep calm.  “why are you here? you-u’re s-ssupposed to be dead. gone forever, away in hell wh-where you belong.”

“Oh my, such wishful thinking. I would almost think you hated me,” the elder skeleton teased. “By the way, in case you didn't know by now, a 4-foot tall skeleton who stutters whenever he gets scared isn't very intimidating. Might wanna work on that some more when you insult someone without any real feelings.”

Sans glared at Gaster, but didn't attempt any more insults. Papyrus stayed quiet, not knowing who this man was, but not  _ wanting  _ to know who he was, either. He fidgeted at the cuff of his glove, a nervous habit he had picked up when he was younger,as the unfamiliar sense of dread grew ever stronger.

“Anyway, I am happy to inform you that you will be returning yourselves to me for further research that I was not able to complete. If you have any objections, I couldn't care less,” he said. “We will begin with you assisting me in getting my title back as the royal scientist, because that stuttering dino-disaster does not deserve to be my successor. Understood?”

“no.”

“ Excuse me, what did you say?”

“i said,”  Sans said, a bit louder,  “fuck. no. th-there is no way in  _ hell _ we're gonna help you. not after all the shit you've done. g-go.. go shove a chainsaw up your ass.”

“My, such profanity! And I had thought I taught you better!” Gaster said in mock-offense. “I suppose I didn't emphasize enough that you have no choice in this?”

“nah, you emphasized plenty,”  Sans responded. There was the small sound of a blaster summoning right behind the other skeleton.  “i just  _ hate  _ when people tell me what to do.”

Gaster turned around to see a bright light coming towards him, and Sans grinned, happy to see the elder skeleton get blasted to--

Wait. Where the heck did he go.

When everything from the blaster cleared up, there was no sign of where Gaster had gone. Just a puddle of black goop on the floor of the lab. Sans looked around for signs of him, certain that he didn't just dissappear. Then, he quickly looked back at the goop. It had started moving. It bubbled and sloshed, moving up into itself like some kind of self-aware slime that would have been the newest trend on the Internet had it been possible. It continued to meld and mold, until Gaster was standing in front of them again, looking very displeased.

“If you're going to attack me,” he started, “At least be discreet about it. I could have noticed that coming from a mile away.”

A bone smacked Sans on the back of his skull. Luckily, he didn't take any damage.

“And if it weren't for your stupid ‘condition’,” the elder skeleton frowned, “That would not have had the potential to dust you. Now, if you  _ really  _ wish to fight--”

Suddenly, the three of them were no longer in the lab, but in a large clearing in the core.

“-- we might as well do it here, where we can't destroy any of the lab. When I was living there, I did like to keep it tidy, after all.”

Sans hardly recollected himself before bones began hurtling toward him at impossible speeds. He tried his best to dodge them. It was obvious Gaster wasn’t even using his full power, as most of the bones only took off about .01 HP, as to not kill his own lab rat.

 

* * *

 

Alphys, meanwhile, watched as everything unfolded, hurriedly explaining the situation to Undyne on the phone.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my g- _ god!”  _ She gasped.

“Alphys, holy shit, calm down! What happened?” Undyne’s worried voice said through the reciever.

She took a deep breath.

“I was messing with a machine I made and then boom crash explosions and shit and then there was a man and that man was Sans and Papyrus's dad and then he told me to call them over to see him and he seemed really nice so I did and then they started fighting and-and-and they just  _ vanished _ !!! And now I can't find them on the cameras and I'm fucking freaking out because oh my god who  _ knows _ what they could be doing now and it's all my fault that this happened and I believed him too easily and now they're both in huge trouble and-and- _ and--” _

_ “Alphys,”  _ Undyne said with a forceful tone. Alphys shut up. “You're rambling again.”

“S-sorry I just-”

“It's fine. I think I got what you were trying to say anyway. There was a shitlord who tricked you into calling the skelebros and he's actually not nice and now they're in a lot of trouble? And you can't find them on the cams? Is that right?” 

“Y-yeah.”

“I'm on my way.”

* * *

Sans breathed heavily, just barely dodging the attacks. They had been fighting for, what, 10 minutes now? 20? It was hard to keep track of time when you were trying not to die. It was obvious now that Gaster didn't even care if he killed the other skeleton or not, making sure his attacks took more than 1 HP now. When Sans sent in his own attacks, Gaster cheated, not dodging them, but turning into that dumb goop instead. The smaller of the two grit his teeth, skeletal grin noticeably strained. Beads of impossible sweat dripped down his skull.

“Oh, what's wrong, are you getting tired?” Gaster teased, noting how Sans was getting much sloppier and slower by the second. Now was his chance. “It's about time you find out what it's like to be trapped in eternal darkness, to be locked out of a world where no one will remember you but me.”

Sans looked confused for a moment, before a large no-attack bone came from behind and smacked him forward…

...right over the edge, and into the core.

He let out a loud yell as he fell, desperately trying to get a hold on the piping on his way down. Fortunately, he managed to catch one, holding onto it with one arm. One of his slippers fell off and into the hot liquid below, disintegrating as it sunk. Sans’s grip on the pipe tightened, and he attempted to get his second hand up as well. He struggled, but held on for dear life. He slowly started climbing up, not having the right amount of upper body strength to climb as fast as he would want to.

**_“SANS!!!”_ ** **** Papyrus, who had been unable to do anything as he wasn't part of the fight, screamed. He ran over to the ledge where his brother had fallen, searching desperately for any signs of him. He didn't seem to see anything, large pipes at the top blocking most of his view of the rest of them. He knelt down, filled with dread. He started thinking the worst.  _ “What if he's dead, you failed him, you could've helped, and you failed him, and now he's dead and it's you're fault and  _ **_you failed him-”_ **

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Ah, what a shame. That leaves me down to one useless son, rather than two. Oh well,” Gaster said. “Honestly, Papyrus, you were always better off without him. I saw. I saw when he woke you up in the middle of the night because he couldn't handle childish nightmares like an adult. I saw him on his ‘down days,’ always setting you behind, always delaying you on what you needed to do that day. He was such a burden. Lucky for you, he won't be around to bring you down anymore, now will he?”

Papyrus mumbled something.

“What was that?”

“I said..”  He started, slowly getting up,  “HOW  **_COULD YOU?!”_ **

Gaster’s soul was suddenly turned blue, crushing him under the weight of gravity. He stumbled, not able to even turn himself into goo anymore under the pressure. He hardly dodged a flurry of bones sent toward him at terrifying speeds.

**_“HE WAS NOT A BURDEN IN ANY POSSIBLE WAY! HE WAS MY BROTHER!!”_ **

More attacks. More damage taken.

**_“I LOVED IT WHEN HE WOULD COME TO ME AT NIGHT!! IT SHOWED THAT HE CARED! THAT HE TRUSTED ME!!!”_ **

**_*_ ** 50/125 HP

**_“YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TELL ME THAT HE WEIGHED ME DOWN!! HE WAS THE BEST BROTHER I EVER COULD HAVE HAD!!”_ **

*39/125 HP

**_“YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL HIM USELESS. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO EVEN SAY HIS NAME!”_ **

**_*_ ** 15/125 HP

**_“AND! YOU!! UH-”_ **

Papyrus paused, seeing movement out the corner of his eyesocket. He turned to look, not really caring if Gaster attacked him or not.

 

No. Freaking. Way.

 

“SANS!!!”  Papyrus yelled, crying as he ran over to his brother, who had climbed up the piping after quite a while of being assumed dead. He picked up the smaller skeleton in a bear hug, happy that he was alive and seemingly well. No missing limbs or anything! Luckily, he hadn't ended his turn, so all Gaster could do was sit there and watch as he rubbed an area on his skull where an attack had hit especially hard.

“OH MY GOD, I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! AND I WAS SO WORRIED!! BUT YOU'RE ALIVE AND GET TO WATCH ME KICK THIS GUY’S BUTT!!!”  He said, smiling widely. Sans raised a brow. 

“EVEN IF YOU'RE ALIVE, I'M NOT DONE GETTING REVENGE YET,”  Papyrus explained. Sans nodded in understanding, and the taller skeleton moved him so that he was hanging onto his shoulders.  “HOLD ON,” He warned.  “I'M GOING TO USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK!! I GOT IT BACK FROM THAT DOG, SO NOW I ACTUALLY  _ CAN  _ USE IT!!”

Gaster raised a brow, not recalling Papyrus ever having a “special attack.” Whether he had seen it or not, he was still filled with an unfamiliar sense of dread. He couldn't do anything, either. Papyrus hadn't ended his turn at any point. Cheating bastard. He didn't have any time to think about it, though, as he tensed himself for the oncoming attack. Papyrus seemed to be concentrating very hard, magic swirling around in large quantities above him. Finally, it manifested into…

..the biggest blaster Gaster had ever seen. He stared at it, dismayed. It resembled a ram’s skull, with piercing, dark blue eyelights that glared down at its target. It opened its mouth, and all he could do was put his arms up and try to leap out of the way of its enormous beam, but to no avail. It hit him, instantly sucking out a large portion of his HP.

*0.5/125 HP

He was certain he was going to die, when everything suddenly stopped. He stared up at Papyrus, having been knocked to the ground. The younger skeleton looked down at him, with a friendly smile on his face. Sans glared at him from where he clung onto his brother’s shoulders. Then, Papyrus stuck out his hand.

“AS MAD AS I STILL AM AT YOU,”  he said,  “I KNOW THAT YOU CAN GET BETTER WITH HELP! I BELIEVE IN YOU!!”

**_*Papyrus is sparing you._ **

Gaster stared at him, confused for a moment. Why would this idiot skeleton, after everything,  _ not  _ kill him? He shook it off, getting an idea. He smiled back, reached out his own hand toward Papyrus’s…

...and turned Sans’s soul blue, throwing him violently against the core wall with a loud  **_BANG!_ **

_ “SANS!!”  _  Papyrus screamed yet again. Gaster attempted to go after him aswell, but he was forced to break the rules yet again as he retaliated with his own attacks. Gaster stiffened up, inhaling sharply. It took Papyrus a moment to realize what he had just done.

*0/125 HP

He stared at Gaster, eyes wide. There's no way-he didn't- he  _ couldn't  _ have--

But there, right in front of him, the man he hadn't even taken the time to know or remember was turning to dust.

“WAIT-NO-I-I DIDN'T MEAN- OH MY GOD.. WHAT DID I JUST- I DIDN'T- OH GOD…” He stammered, catching the elder skeleton as he fell forward. Tears welled up in his eyes. He hadn't even taken the time to  _ know  _ who this person was. And he killed him ruthlessly. The man didn't even say anything as he slowly dusted, eyes glazed over. He closed his eyes, breathed one final breath, and finally dusted completely, right in Papyrus’s arms. The skeleton choked back a sob, staring at the dust on his arms. He just murdered someone. He  _ killed  _ someone he didn't even  _ know _ . He was a killer, a murderer, how could he do this, how could he-

“ghh-oww, fuck,”  Sans’s voice said, interrupting his thoughts.  “papyrus, i need some-agh-help here, please??”

That's when he noticed the rumbling in the walls. 

“i think the place is gonna-fuck-break down soon. it’s never been very stable, i think. i-..i can't move. i think my leg is broken or something, papyrus please..”  He pleaded. Papyrus stared at him, frozen. The rumbling got louder.

“p-pap-..papyrus listen to me, dear god  _ please.  _ bro, i’m begging you, help me out here, don't just stare.”

Louder. Too loud. A section of the wall and ceiling broke, just where Sans had hit when Gaster had thrown him. It apparently had been knocked loose from the impact. Unfortunately, Sans was right below it. He tried to crawl out of the way, Papyrus finally ran toward him, breaking out of his daze, but not nearly fast enough. When he was about halfway there, the wall section had fallen ontop of sans, luckily not killing him instantly, as the skeleton had managed to get some of his body out of the way. Papyrus desperately healed what he could, determined not to let his brother die.

*0.5 HP

*0.6 HP

*0.4 HP

The number was inconsistent, but he kept healing. He attempted to lift the heavy piece of core that had fallen, but he couldn't do that and heal sans at the same time. He couldn't call anyone, either. He knew he couldn't. Phones never work in the core. If someone didn't just happen to wander in here at thus exact moment, he would be completely fu-

“WHERE'S THE FUCKIN’ FIGHT?!” Undyne suddenly yelled, bursting into the area in all her red-haired glory. Papyrus flinched, whipping around quickly.

“UNDYNE!! OH THANK GOD, GET OVER HERE AND HELP ME, PLEASE!!! SANS IS UNDER THIS THING!!!” He yelled desperately. Without hesitation, she ran over and lifted up the wall section, with a small amount of magic to assist. Papyrus pulled Sans out, the other having passed out by now, and hugged him tightly, still healing him.

“I think Alphys already called 911, so all we have to do now is get to the surface and meet the ambulance there. You think you can make it that long?” Undyne asked, voice filled with worry. Papyrus nodded, grateful that she didn't ask what happened.

Hurriedly, they both ran to the surface as fast as possible.


	2. Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of everything. Still, no one is okay.
> 
> Amputation/missing limbs, self harm/self harm mentions, as well as self hatred warning!
> 
> I'm not sure if I portrayed everything correctly, so if I screwed something up, please call me horrible and proceed to tell me how to fix it. There's a warning where the amputation is, as I have a friend reading who gets really, really uncomfortable at that kind of stuff. Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

Sans blinked his eyes open, slowly taking in his unfamiliar surroundings. A bed. White room. Desk. Chair. Balloons, presents..? He squinted, looking at them a bit closer. “Get well soon,” the balloons said. There were stuffed animals, wrapped boxes, and cards stacked up along with them. That just made him even more confused. Luckily, though, he spotted a large figure sitting by the bed, red scarf hanging on his shoulders, eyesockets staring at nothing.

“wh..?” He grumbled. Papyrus almost immediately perked up, looking straight at Sans. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, before capturing him in a bearhug.

“OH, THANK GOD YOU’RE AWAKE!!” He said. Despite his relief, his voice was hoarse and strained, as if he hadn’t talked in a while. “I WAS SO WORRIED!!”

 

 

> _**< YO AMPUTATION DESCRIPTION IS ABOUT TO BE A THING SO SKIP THIS PART IF YOU NEED TO>** _

 

“pap oh my god you’re crushing m-”

He stopped.

He felt like he was missing something. Three “somethings”, to be exact. Papyrus let him go.

“IS SOMETHING WRONG?” He asked, brow raised.

“why can’t i.. feel…” Sans looked down. “....oh. oh my god. holy shit.”

His legs weren’t there. Neither was his right arm. Rather, uneven stubs in their places. He felt like he was gonna be sick.

“OH, RIGHT. THAT..” Papyrus said, avoiding looking at him. “THE DOCTORS HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO.. YOU KNOW.”

Sans looked away from the stubs, feeling queasy. He took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. He didn’t bother asking what happened, looking at Papyrus instead.

 

 

> _**< K IT’S PRETTY MUCH DONE NOW YOU CAN GO ON WITH YOUR READING>** _
> 
>  

He noticed almost immediately how tired his brother looked, and how he occasionally fidgeted with the cuff of his glove.

“hey bro, ‘s’everything alright with you? you seem pretty tired,” he pointed out, to which the other shook his head.

“NO, I’M FINE. I DON’T NEED ANY REST. IF ANYTHING, I SHOULD BE ASKING IF _YOU’RE_ OKAY! YOU’RE THE ONE IN A HOSPITAL BED!!” He answered, clearly not wanting to talk about himself. Sans knew he was lying. He didn’t say anything.

“aside from, uh, _this_..  i think i’m doin’ good. for now, at least,” he responded.

“THAT'S GOOD,” Papyrus said.

A pause. A pause so long that it grew awkward. Yet neither of the two knew a good way to break the silence without bringing up any previous events.

“uh, so about--”

“NO.”

“you didn't even know what i was gonna say.”

“YOU WERE GOING TO ASK WHAT HAPPENED. YOU WERE GOING TO EXPLAIN THINGS, OR AVOID THE REAL QUESTIONS,”  he said, voice bitter. Sans wondered if he had done something wrong, or if Papyrus was truly exhausted. He looked like he hadn't slept in 3 days, after all. Not to mention, far beyond stressed. “I WOULD MUCH RATHER LEAVE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST. OR AT LEAST, NOT TALK ABOUT IT NOW OR EVER IF I CAN.”

Sans could understand not wanting to talk about the past, or even think about it. And yet, he couldn't help but wonder. What _happened_ ? What landed him in the hospital in this condition? He remembered a broken leg, too loud rumbling, and then a huge shadow and everything was pain for a few seconds before he blacked out, and that was it. Actually, no, that wasn't it and he knew it. What about Gaster? What had happened to _him_? Sans doubted the old man would flee, but his health was rather low before everything went to hell. Maybe he had just decided not to risk it; not to be an imbecile and get himself killed. Not that Papyrus would kill him, anyway. Maybe he had been captured, arrested, and on his way to a jail cell right now. Maybe, finally, both the brothers would be free of their bastard father for good.

Sans realized that he had taken too much time in thought, and there was another awkward silence. He couldn't help but ask, despite his brother’s intent not to talk.

“okay, you're right, and i’m sorry. but i have to know. what happened to gaster?” He asked, immediately feeling regret. And yet, to his surprise, Papyrus’s face filled with confusion instead of panic, sorrow, _anything_ that could prove he even knew.

“WHO?” He asked back, too tired to look as confused as he felt.

“wh-y’know, _gaster_ ? the guy who literally just waltzed back in here and fucked up everything? our piece-of-shit dad? ring a bell?” He said, taken aback that the other skeleton didn't remember. He had thought they both knew who the man was when they first saw him, since they both shared a sense of panic and desperation. It hadn't occurred to him that, after all this, Papyrus didn't even know who he _was_.

Papyrus, among finally discovering the identity of the man who had attacked them, took a moment to let it sink. Then, like Sans had expected the first time his face contorted in panic and... regret? Why _regret_?

“THAT MAN WAS OUR-OUR-” He said, hardly masking the guilt in his voice. _Why was there guilt in his voice?_ “HE-H-HE _COULDN'T HAVE- I-”_

The poor thing couldn't get his words out. He put his face in his hands. Not crying, but simply wrapping his mind around it. Why was he so devastated? What happened, other than his own fucking up, that made Gaster being their father so _awful_ , so gut-wrenching that it made Papyrus freak out?

“woah, woah, pap, chill,” he said, attempting to comfort the younger skeleton with his one good arm. “it’s not that big of a deal. you know what, actually? you don't gotta tell me what happened, i don't even want to know anymore. just don't freak when it comes to him, please? i know it’s hard- god, do i know- but you can't let him control your mind or shit like that. it isn't healthy.”

He lied, that was an obvious fact. He would ask Alphys or Undyne what had happened when he got the chance, and both of the brothers knew it. And yet, Sans still thought that his little brother believed him, because he didn't say anything about it. All Papyrus did was take deep, _deep_ breaths, trying to calm himself to his best ability. He straightened, only to fidget evermore at the cuffs of his gloves. Just as he finished mostly calming himself down, two other monsters walked into the room, only giving a warning with a gentle knock beforehand.

“Hey, Pap,” Undyne said, voice unusually gentle, “Everything alright in here?”

He nodded to her, and gestured vaguely to Sans.

“Oh! S-Sans, you're awake!” Alphys exclaimed in a surprised, yet grateful tone. “Th-that’s good. We were all getting kinda, uh, k-kinda worried.”

“Yeah,” Undyne agreed, “You were out like a damn light! Slept through all the surgeries and crowds in here. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of how much gifts you got. Like, _jeez_ , dude.” She gestured to the pile of gifts and cards. There was, Sans realized, a _lot_.

“A-anyway! We're happy you're awake!!” Alphys said. “B-but, uh, actually, now might be a bad time for us to say the reason we barged in here in the first place. I-it’s kinda, um, a buzzkill?? Is that even the right word???”

Sans raised a brow. His brother remained quiet, and his expression barely seemed to shift from that of a neutral one, as if he already knew.

“The staff say it's time to go, pal. Sorry, but you know how it is. We're only aloud here for a day at a time, and you've been sitting on that stool for three,” Undyne explained, voice still unnaturally gentle. “I asked if you could stay longer, but they won't budge for shit. Sorry.”

Papyrus sighed, as well as Sans. So much for getting information on what the hell happened. He gave his brother one last hug, before the taller left, posture more slumped than usual with Undyne’s hand on his back in a comforting manner. Alphys trailed behind a bit, being the last to exit the room. Before she left, she looked at Sans.

“I know you're confused, b-but I think we all are right about now. I-I’ll try to help you understand soon, but right now I c-cant do much. Like always, I guess,” she said, shrugging slightly. “It'll still be a while before you're even allowed to go home, s-so I hope that bed's comfy. Uh, get well soon! Even though that sentence changes nothing!! I'm rambling! I'm gonna go! Bye!!”

And with that, she rushed out of the room to catch up with Undyne and Papyrus. At least it left Sans with the smallest hint of genuine amusement in his skeletal grin. He looked around the room, no longer having anyone to talk to. He looked at the gifts, and used his magic to bring some over. Luckily, he controlled magic best with his good hand, so that wasn't very difficult. He started reading the cards, and going through each and every gift, flattered that so many people cared for his well-being. The benefits of knowing literally everyone, he guessed.

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as the group got home, Papyrus went up to his room. He ignored Frisk running up to him, already trying to comfort him. He ignored Toriel asking if he was alright. He just went to his room, nothing but a blank expression on his face. He closed the door behind him, making absolute sure it was locked.

And then he crumpled onto the floor, face in hands.

He couldn't believe it. Gaster. That was the man’s name, the _dead_ man’s name, his _father,_ his victim was his own _father_ , and he didn't even _know_ . He killed his own father and he didn't even know until three days after. Not only was he a murderer, but he murdered someone of his own blood. He felt bad, and yet not as bad as he _should_ , which made him feel even worse. He felt bad for getting his own father's dust, EXP, everything onto his own hands, that much was a given. And yet, he couldn't help but wonder, what if he had _deserved_ it? There had to be a reason for that sense of terror he felt upon first seeing the other skeleton. Not to mention, he had nearly killed Sans. His brother, the one he worked so hard to remain oblivious around and to _try_ and keep happy, had come so close to dying by Gaster’s hands. In some way, did he deserve the fate Papyrus had sentenced him to? Did he deserve to die by the hands of his own kin?

 _No_ , Papyrus told himself, appalled at his own disgusting thoughts. _No one, no matter how bad, deserves to die. No one deserves to turn to dust, to never be seen again except for in fuzzy memories. No one deserves to disappear._

He believed it, too. And yet when he said his beliefs aloud to other people, they would always say, _‘oh, but what if they did this?”_ or _‘some people deserve it more than others.’_ Why was it so hard to grasp, he wondered that no one deserved to cease to exist? To be completely forgotten, aside from nothing but a useless pile of dust that had no real importance other than being a dead person’s former body? Why couldn't people just understand that, no matter who, everyone had good in their souls, that everyone could change their ways and get better if they just _tried_ . It frustrated him, the way so few people believed in true change. Most humans still regarded monsters as savages who just happened to be up to date on their technology that flooded the underground’s garbage dump. Some monsters still thought of humans as war-crazed heathens who attacked for the sole purpose of wiping out the species due to some irrational fear. And while both parties reacted differently to change, they both still had plenty of difficulty adapting to it, changing along with it’s course. And while they both had the more extreme parts of their communities, that _still_ didn’t mean anyone deserved to die, to dust, to be put in a coffin and buried. And yet, he had done exactly that. He had killed someone and watched them turn to dust in his arms. He had killed the man who helped him exist, and held him as he dusted. In a way, he was even worse than Gaster himself. Sure, he had tried to kill Sans, but he didn’t actually _do_ it. Sans survived. But, because of Papyrus’s reckless and selfish need for vengeance, Gaster had not. It occurred to him that he didn’t even _need_ to attack. Sans would have found his way up anyhow, without his annoying little brother trying to do some good for once. He would have been fine, and their father would still be alive, and given a second chance, and they could be a happy family again.

If they ever were a happy family, anyway. It annoyed Papyrus, how, no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t remember anything from when he was younger, other than developing that stupid nervous habit where he tore holes in his sleeves from always messing with them. He couldn’t remember elementary school, middle school, _anything_ that was before he was already an adult. And it frustrated him to no end. He sat there, leaning his back against the door, for what seemed like an eternity, trying to remember. He couldn’t. Why couldn’t he just _remember-_

His thought were interrupted by knocking on the door.

“Papyrus, is everything alright?” Toriel’s voice asked through the door, voice edged with concern. “You came up here in quite a hurry.”

He wanted to answer, to say _‘I’m fine,’_ or _‘leave me alone.’_ Yet he couldn’t get himself to speak a word. Why couldn’t he? What was the difference between talking to Sans and talking to literally anyone else?

“Don’t want to talk, hmm?” She remarked, noting his silence. “That’s fine, I understand that you’ve been through a lot lately. I just- I wanted to let you know that I brought you some pie, if you want it. I will leave it outside the door.”

The sound of a plate being laid onto the floor and heavy footsteps walking away told him that she had left. He sighed. He really, _really_ didn’t want to eat right now. But if he just left it outside the door, it would be rude. He knew Toriel loved making pie, especially when it was to cheer people up. He didn’t want to disappoint her. So, he got himself up, slowly and quietly opened the door, and picked up the plate. Then he closed and re-locked the door before walking over to his computer desk and setting the pie there. Then he looked to the side, and stared. Unlike his room underground, this room actually had a mirror in it. In the mirror was his own reflection looking back at him of course, scarf hanging much too pridefully over his battle body. Dear god, his battle body. It used to make him feel so confident, as if he could do anything, but now he only felt like he looked stupid. He knew he would only ever see this dreadful, stupid outfit as one he had killed someone in, one that would make him recall the memories of the past three days. And so, after double checking that his door was securely closed and locked, he began taking it off for the first time since that costume party underground. How long ago even was that? A year? Two? Six months? He couldn’t even remember. It didn’t matter, anyway, as he knew he would never wear it again. Strange how something he loved so much could turn to something he despised in such a short amount of time.

As he looked at his bare bones, he couldn’t help but look at the cracks on his arms. Why had he done that to himself? Because of the overwhelming loneliness that he had dealt with underground? Because of foolishness, believing that no one would notice, not even his oh-so observant brother? He vaguely remembered both, although he was very wrong about the latter. Sans had noticed. And Sans had freaked. He remembered the long conversation they had, and remembered “promising” never to do it again, although, in reality, he had only promised to never have his arms revealed again. He vowed never to wear t-shirts, tank tops, _anything_ that would reveal him. The only thing that kept him from ditching his battle body sooner was the black, bone-tight fabric that covered his entire body under the chestplate and shorts.

His thoughts were interrupted by a small, sharp pain from his left arm. He noticed that, lost in his own thoughts, he had subconsciously started picking and chipping away at the cracks and grooves. Bad habits are hard to break, after all. He shook his head and picked out a loose-fitting white sweater and black pants. He would get confused looks if he wore it, but he didn’t care. He found a different pair of gloves to match, and put them on. He put his battle body into a box, which he stored in the very back of his closet. Finally, he dared to look back at the mirror, bracing himself slightly. He still hated how he looked, but less now, which was good enough. He heard Frisk knocking at the door, still trying to comfort him, just as they had been trying to do for the past three days, and like always, to no avail. He heard Toriel telling them to leave him alone, that he needed rest if he wanted to get better, They reluctantly gave in, and he heard them walk off to their own room. Rest. Something he hadn’t even thought of getting. Something he didn’t even think he _could_ get if he even wanted to. Nevertheless, he got in bed, since he knew he wouldn’t do anything else. He stared at the wall for the rest of the night, trying not to think, nor fall asleep. It felt like a few thousand years had gone by before the sun finally began to rise. He didn’t bother to change clothes again before he was out the door, always being the first to rise anyhow. He left a small note on his door in case anyone was wondering where he went. They probably wouldn’t have cared.  


* * *

 

 

After a few days, everyone finally got a chance to have their own alone time with Sans in the hospital. Not that they minded Papyrus’s company, but it was hard to talk about things with him in the room, watching them with that blank, guarded expression that made them know he wouldn’t be close to talking about anything any time soon.

Today, Alphys got to be with him, finally getting a chance to talk about recent events and help him understand as much as she did herself.

“hey, al,” Sans said, waving lazily with his good arm. She waved back before taking a seat on the stool next to the bed.

“S-so, I suck at small talk, sso do you just wanna skip to the chase?” She asked, trying not to be awkward and failing miserably.

“sure,” he said, smiling a bit, before it quickly faded. “tell me everything. everything that i missed, i mean. and how gas- how _he_ came back.”

Alphys nodded.

“Y-you know that random machine I built? Wh-when I was super bored?” She asked. Sans nodded. “I was just adding onto it. N-nothing special, just some extra fans here and th-there,some more wiring, blah blah. B-but! When I flipped the switch, i-it just turned on! Completely! It never even w-worked before that.”

“you only added some random shit and it worked?”

“Basically. I d-don’t get it either, trust me. Anyway, it s-started making loud noises and shooting off debris, basically just c-completely falling apart! And then there was a bunch of weird goop and a bright light and then BANG Gaster guy is there!!” She said hastily, not very good at explaining things. Sans furrowed his brow. He got it, but he was still confused.

“..alright then. tell me how i ended up here. what happened? and where did he go?” he asked.

“Now _that’s_ the weird part. F-for a while, the security cams i-in the core were offline for absolutely n-no reason. There wasn’t anything wrong with them, I checked! Th-they didn’t come back online until I saw you g-get thrown into the wall thing. P-Papyrus and Gaster were both offscreen, and the cams don’t have sound. I have no idea where he went. I th-think only Papyrus knows, but he hasn’t been talking. To anyone, I mean. I n-noticed he was talking to you, but that’s it. Until he’s ready to talk about it, we h-have no way of finding out what happened to Gaster,” Alphys explained, fidgeting a bit. She felt bad at Sans’s look of disappointment, mixed with concern.

“paps still hasn’t talked to anyone?”

“No, not a single person other than you.”

“huh,” he sighed, thinking. His brother was obviously going through some heavy stuff, and he had no clue what to do about it. Most of the time it was _Sans_ with the traumatic experiences, not Papyrus. He wondered what happened to Gaster. He knew his brother was with him when everything had gone to hell, but he was too busy trying to reorient himself after being slammed into the stupid unstable wall to pay attention to what had happened next. He knew Gaster wouldn’t have fled, but perhaps he did anyway? Maybe the old man was actually smart enough to recognize when he couldn’t win a fight and _didn’t_ get himself killed. Not like Papyrus would have killed him anyway, but it’s the thought that counts. The thought itself _terrified_ him, that Gaster could be out there, far away, nearby, there was no way of telling. He just knew that he was alive, somewhere, and probably _really_ wanted to regain his dignity. Sans reminded himself to stay around his little brother much more often after this whole ordeal was done with, not that that would be a problem. Sure, Papyrus could hold a fight on his own, but Gaster without a doubt wanted to _kill_ . At the core, the elder skeleton hadn’t gotten a chance to attack because it was never his turn. What would happen to Papyrus when it _was_ his turn? Whatever it was, Sans wanted to make sure it wouldn’t happen. And this hospital bed wasn’t helping in the slightest.

 

 

> _**< ANOTHER WARNING WHOOP>** _

“how long ‘til i get to go home?” he asked, just as he had several time before, sometimes in one day.

“O-only about a week to go, now. So, not long! A-and I’ll be able to start working on your prosthetics, too. I haven’t yet, because I need a m-mold, and they won’t let me do it here,” Alphys answered, smiling excitedly. She had been without any good projects for a super long time, and she was _insanely_ bored.

“any chance you can make my legs, like, _super_ tall? like gimme mettabutt’s legs or somethin’?” he joked. Alphys laughed, imagining Sans walking around with Mettaton’s legs. She mostly just imagined him falling on his face because he couldn’t walk in heels.

“I-I probably could, but no,” she said. Sans mock-pouted, as best as he can with a frozen grin, anyway.

“worth a shot,” he shrugged. “if you won’t give me mettaton’s legs, how ‘bout stilts instead?”

“You should already know that I’m not g-gonna make you anything that makes you taller than me,” she said. “Sh-shorties have to stay shorties! Forever!!”

“no shorty left behind, yeah?”

“Yeah!”

“aaalright, fine, i’ll stay short. for the sake of shorty-kind,” he joked, laughing a bit.  Alphys laughed too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhhhhhhhHHHHH I'VE LITERALLY NEVER BEEN TO A HOSPITAL SINCE I WAS BORN HOW DO I WRITE THI S
> 
> This chapter was also originally gonna be the same length as the first, but I kinda lost my determination near the "end". I'm doing as much research as I can bear, but it's still difficult to write about things that you have little to no experience with yourself.


	3. Cliffhanger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bros need to talk about some things while Alphys does some research.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote 99% of this on my phone with autocorrect on so if things don't make sense sue Android for me because like hell i'm gonna reread all this crap i wrote at 3 in the morning
> 
>  
> 
> Same warnings as last time! Please read cautiously if there is anything that may make you uncomfortable!

Just as Alphys had said, Sans was let out a week later in a wheelchair. Papyrus had finally started talking to other people, those people being Undyne and Frisk. Limited, but baby steps to getting better, at least. The brothers began sharing a room for convenience, so that if Sans needed help getting around, Papyrus would be able to assist without delay. Mettaton, who had previously gotten back from a tour, took Sans’s old room.

“it’s gonna look like barbie’s apartment after, like, an hour,” the short skeleton had complained.

“And yet it would still be an improvement from your pigsty of a bedroom,” Mettaton had retorted. The two seemed to banter often, for no particular reason.

Very soon after he was finally home, Sans still spent some time at the lab with Alphys to discuss prosthetics. They got his arm mold down, but due to having no legs, they couldn’t get a leg mold that was completely accurate. They decided to base the legs off of a child’s size, much to the skeleton’s disappointment. All of the prosthetics would have a space theme, as he had requested. Alphys began working on them almost immediately after everything was decided, modeling the designs and making sure Sans approved of them before she actually began making them. She even managed to convince him to let her put in some modifications. Not much, but once he got them all attached he would be able to use his hand as a phone and his feet as rockets. Frisk began calling him a “soon-to-be cyborg” as a joke.

Papyrus had also started eating and sleeping again. Not much, but just enough not to worry others. He acted like his old, energetic self, yet still fidgeted and swayed when people other than his closest friends tried to talk to him. When he did sleep, he either didn’t dream at all, or had nightmares. He made sure no one new about the nightmares, even his brother, who slept in a bed just across the room from him. He would bolt upright, but right before he screamed, he would shove his own hand over his mouth to muffle it. Amazingly, it worked out most times.

This particular nightmare made it a bit more difficult.

* * *

 

The skeleton stood in the kitchen, cooking spaghetti. It was expertly made, of course, with just the right amount of smoke. The fire alarm blaring told him that he was doing everything correctly as he moved over to the cupboard for a reason he couldn’t place. He opened it, and like always, the little white dog ran out, chewing on a large bone. He chased it, running right out of the kitchen. The dog disappeared right as he was about to grab it, which he, for some reason, thought of as normal. He suddenly had a plate of fresh spaghetti in his hands, walking over to his brother, who was watching TV on the couch.

“FOOD!” He said. Sans didn’t respond. “UM, SANS? HELLO??”

He noticed the other skeleton’s eyes were closed, and felt confused. How could he be watching TV with closed eye sockets? He tried to reach out his arm, and touch his shoulder, but he couldn’t move.

Then Sans finally spoke.

**“Don’t,”** He said, not moving an inch. Papyrus froze. It wasn’t Sans’s voice, it was someone else’s. And yet, he couldn’t recall who as it seemed like his brother who was talking.

“DON’T WHAT?” He asked.

**“I know what you are,”** the other skeleton said instead, ignoring the question. Papyrus was still confused. **“You are horrible.  You have committed patricide. You are a murderer of your own kin.”**

Right to the point. Papyrus tried to do something, _anything_ , but he couldn’t move an inch.

Sans opened his eyes.

There was pure black liquid spilling out of them, making a mess and puddling on the floor. It was as if the skeleton had been crying, _sobbing_ oil. A strong smell of blood mixed with dust filled the room as well, though there was none to be seen as the liquid flooded, the living room suddenly being completely empty and isolated from the house. The taller skeleton could only watch in horror as Sans’s figure broke down, turning to eerily black dust and mixing with the oily liquid. It kept filling the room, despite coming from no visible source. Papyrus tried to keep his head above it all, struggling uselessly at the strong, unnatural current pulling at him from below. The closer he got to being submerged, the more whispering he heard. It was loud and quiet at the same time, unable to find a consistent tempo. It started off nearly impossible to make out, but then it became more understandable the more he struggled to stay afloat.

_“Murderer.”_

_“Patricidal.”_

_“Horrible.”_

_“Disgusting.”_

Soon, Papyrus realized that it was his own friend’s voices he was hearing. Undyne called him a ruthless murderer, Frisk called him disgusting, Alphys called him a patricidal maniac, and his own brother called him horrible. The voices grew louder, some of the same saying two different things at once. They all began overlapping each other, as if fighting for dominance on who could call him the worst name that described him the loudest.

_“MURDERER!”_ Undyne screamed.

_“DISGUSTING!”_ Frisk screamed back.

_“UNFATHOMABLE!”_ Alphys’ voice said.

_“WORTHLESS!”_ Sans said.

They all hurt his head, pounding against the inside of his skull as if someone had began bashing it with a hammer. He kept struggling, not even sure why at this point, before he finally became submerged altogether. The chaos stopped abruptly, leaving him alone in the black nothingness, somehow breathing perfectly. Strange how skeletons needed air despite having no lungs. It wasn’t even liquid anymore, it was just a black.. void. As if nothing existed anymore. He started walking around, despite not having a floor. His footsteps echoed through the area as he looked around, squinting to see anything. Then, he finally spotted something in the distance. A hunched figure, almost as black as the void, with the exception of it’s skull. He walked over cautiously. He reached out to touch the hunched figure on the shoulder, but it spoke before he could get the chance, startling him.

“This is where I was trapped,” the figure said. “Here, for so, _so_ many years. You can imagine what that would do to a person.”

Papyrus said nothing as the figure turned around, revealing it’s scarred face and holed hands folded in front of it.

“I spent some of that time running around and screaming, trying to find out why I was here. Then I remembered you, Papyrus,” it said. “I remembered you and your brother, how I would read you bedtime stories, how you drew that sweet doodle of all of us after your mother passed.”

Somehow, Papyrus felt as though he wasn’t hearing the full story.

“Do _you_ remember?” The figure asked, although it wasn’t really a question. Both of the two knew he didn’t. He shook his head anyway.

“Of course you don’t. Everyone forgot me after Sans, my son, your own brother, betrayed me. Driven by his own, selfish intentions,” it said. Papyrus froze, _knowing_ that the other monster was keeping something from him. Something important.

“And then you killed me for _real,_ just as soon as I was freed from this hell of a world,” it continued, tone unreadable. “You, of all people, were the one to dust me. The one person I had thought could never do any wrong in this world.”

He finally remembered.

Quick as lightning, glimpses of recent memories came before his eyes. The figure standing before him, Gaster, his father, being attacked to the point of less than one HP by none other than Papyrus himself. Gaster turning to grey dust, his cold, dead eyes staring at nothing. The younger skeleton’s EXP increasing with a sound he had never heard, never _wanted_ to hear. In a matter of seconds, he had gone from LV 1 to LV 2.5. And it was horrifying.

“Now you understand, don't you?” Gaster said, expression still unreadable. “Well then, you can understand why I am going to do what I'm about to do.”

Suddenly, Papyrus was slammed against a wall that wasn't there. He winced, a sharp pain going through his back. He could faintly hear someone saying something in the distance, but he couldn't make it out. Not as if he had enough time to even consider it, though, because as soon as he looked down he saw jagged bones pierce his figure and--

**_“Papyrus!”_ **

 

He sat up, forgetting to cover his mouth with his hand as he screamed loudly. He jumped violently as something next to him screamed a bit, too. He still couldn't consider much of it, because he was too busy shaking and panting loudly, trying to calm himself down. He felt a small hand on his arm, shaking him lightly.

“papyrus, holy shit, you need to calm down,” his brother’s voice said. “here, look at me.”

He looked at Sans, still in a bit of a panic. The other skeleton looked back at him, still holding his arm.

“it’s ok, alright? whatever the hell you were dreamin’ about is done now. everything is ok, please calm down,” he said. “take deep breaths, it's gonna be okay.”

Papyrus did as he was told, taking deep, ragged breaths. A few tears managed to escape from his eye sockets and streak down his face before Sans pulled him into a one-armed hug. He hugged him back and realized the two of them were on the floor.

“everything alright now?” Sans asked when he thought everything was more calm. Papyrus nodded slowly, but froze up at the knock on the door. Of course someone would come ask, he probably woke up the entire house by now. Even the pet rock was most likely awake. He hesitantly got up, wishing Sans could do it, and then getting mad at himself because he knew his brother physically couldn't even if he wanted to. He opened the door, intensely hoping someone he could talk to was behind it. It was Toriel, with Undyne, Frisk, Alphys and Mettaton standing behind her.

“My apologies, Papyrus, but we all heard a very loud scream come from your room. Is everything alright?” she asked. He wanted to answer, but he just couldn't get himself to. Thankfully, Sans came to his rescue.

“paps had a nightmare, i think,” he said. “it’s fine now, but it's probably best if you could give us some time to calm down? i think it was pretty scary, or something.”

Papyrus nodded, grateful for Sans explaining it so well. Toriel and the others said they understood, and went back to their own bedrooms. He closed the door and leaned on it before sliding down and hugging his knees to his chest.

“Thank you,” he said, surprising himself. He could hardly remember the last time he had used something other than all-caps when speaking.

“no prob, bro. i know it's been hard for you, lately. sure, i lost some limbs, big whoop, but you thought i died, what, twice? and with asster probably running free, jeez..” His voice trailed off as Papyrus seemed to look like he felt even worse. “i-i mean, we don't _know_ he's free. hell, he might have gotten himself back into wherever the hell he was before he decided to fuck up our lives. ok, not helping at all, gonna stop talking about him now.”

He sighed, slowly but surely dragging himself to sit by his brother’s side against the door.

“do you wanna talk about it? the dream, i mean. shit, i suck at this.” He facepalmed.

“Not--...Not particularly,” Papyrus sighed, pulling his knees a bit closer.

“that’s fine, you don't have to if you're not comfortable,” Sans said. If he wasn't using his arm to keep himself from falling, he would be patting the other on the back. Instead, he just sat there, wondering how the heck he could help without making the situation worse.

Papyrus seemed lost in thought as well. In truth, he was having an internal war, trying to decide if he should actually tell Sans what happened. He felt guilty for what he'd done, but he also felt guilty for refusing to tell anyone. His brother thought Gaster had survived, and that was without a doubt making him stressed. It was bad enough he was missing three limbs, he didn't need any extra trouble. At every visit to Alphys, Papyrus knew they weren't talking about prosthetics when they asked him to leave the room. It must not have occurred to them that the walls were never soundproof. He heard them talk about where Gaster may be, without having a single thought that he could possibly be dead. If they did have any doubts, they sure didn't mention it, anyway. He heard them scan the cameras underground, looking for any chances of a man that was dead. He assumed that the pile of dust was lost in the rubble of the destroyed core, which was why they hadn't found it yet. Everyone was stressed and scared, even Undyne and Frisk occasionally going around both underground and on the surface, searching for the eldest skeleton. It hurt to not be able to tell them what happened, but he was also terrified of what would happen if they _did_ find out. He felt they wouldn't forgive him, that they would think of him as disgusting and as blood-thirsty as a cold-hearted murderer. Except for Flowey. Flowey would probably praise, steal some nice creams from that bunny, and say that he should feel proud. He would even want to test it out, to see just what the skeleton could do. But, Papyrus knew, that wouldn't be good enough. While Flowey was a very good friend of his, the flower’s way of comforting people was more bitter-sweet than anything.

He shook the thoughts out of his head, going back to his original thinking. Sure, the consequences would most likely be awful, but he was causing very unnecessary stress. Maybe, if he told Sans this one thing, and asked him _really_ nicely to keep it a secret, it would be good enough. Unless his brother decided to abandon him right there. He decided he was willing to risk it.

“Actually, uh..” He finally spoke up, breaking the long silence. “I think.. I think I can tell you something.”

Sans looked at him, curiosity in his eyelights.

“But you have to promise not to tell anyone. Not a soul.”

* * *

 

Alphys squinted, watching the monitor with growing irritation in her eyes. Normally, she would be watching anime, but because of her own stupidity, she ended up rewatching tapes of recent events over and over and over again. She watched when Gaster appeared, how she cowered behind a table like a frightened bunny, and how he charmed her into thinking he was a good person. Now that she looked over it, she realized how much the old man’s story barely made sense. There were so many plot holes that if his story were a show, it would get cancelled after three episodes. She frowned even more.

“When the boys were very young,” computer-Gaster said, “their mother passed away. She was a very loving, caring mother and a spontaneous wife. I think we were all heartbroken, but we got over it. Mostly.”

She watched herself nod sympathetically, obviously feeling bad for him.

“It took me a very long time to recover. I fell behind in my work. But my sons helped me through it, and it was great!” He continued. Alphys felt like rolling her eyes and mocking every single word he said. All bullshit and lies. “But apparently we just can't be happy. When Sans was a young adult and Papyrus was in his teens, there was a very big malfunction in the core. It ended with me falling right into it, it was horrifying.”

Past-stupid-gullible Alphys remarked on how he didn't seem very traumatized.

“Oh trust me, I am very traumatized. I just bottle things up. Anyway, that stopped me from existing for quite a while. And that's about it.”

The cameras didn't have sound, but present-Alphys remembered the conversation well enough to know what was being said. How had she _not_ asked any followup questions? How did he survive the heat of the core? What did he mean by “stopped from existing?” How did the brothers’ mom die? What was the big malfunction in the core? He had left out so much detail that the story hardly made sense. And yet, she believed him. Why? Because _“oh, he seemed like a nice guy!”_

_Well, news flash,_ she thought, _most “nice guys” aren't really nice!! They just wanna fuck you up! Whether that's in your pants or your brain! And you_ **_let_ ** _him do it! This is all your fault!_

She sighed. The video had gotten to when Sans attacked Gaster. There was yet attacked other question. If he was _such_ a good dad, why the heck had Sans attacked him? Why did both of the brothers seem so scared when he came up? She had tried to ask Sans eventually, knowing Papyrus wouldn't answer, but she hardly got the chance. And when she _did_ ask, the skeleton couldn't bring himself to answer. She knew it was probably reasonable, considering everything, but she couldn't help being a little annoyed at how little she knew about the entire situation. It only bothered her a small bit that Papyrus also refused to talk to her, another thing that she knew was reasonable. He went through so much in so little time. He was the only one who knew what happened to Gaster, yet it seemed to bother him so much that he began fidgeting much more than usual when the old man was so much as mentioned in the same room as him. Despite what they both thought, the two of them weren't even very close. They had only previously known each other through Undyne on Undernet, occasionally responding to each other’s posts and status updates. Even on the surface, they only ever hung out when Undyne or Frisk was there, too. No matter he hadn't gotten to talking to her again yet.

She shook the thoughts out of her head, focusing her attention back on the screen in front of her. Sick of watching the same scene over and over again, she switched to the recordings from the core. She watched the fight, and how much Gaster seemed to want Sans dead. What happened that made him so filled with rage and hatred to his own son? She studied the fight, trying to see everything before the camera cut out. She watched as Sans started growing tired, sloppily dodging the attacks and only barely getting out of the way. She wanted to scream for him to get out of the way as a large bone came up from behind him and--

“Hot chocolate, nerd!” Undyne suddenly yelled, making Alphys jump as she roughly put a mug in front of her, spilling a small bit. “Drink up!!”

Alphys smiled, remembering to say thanks before picking up the mug and taking a sip. She almost immediately put it down, eyes watering up slightly as her throat burned. It was _extremely_ hot, as if her girlfriend had filled it with lava from hell itself. She winced as the feeling passed.

“I-it’s a bit, um, t-too hot,” she said after noticing Undyne’s confused yet concerned expression.

“Well it's hot chocolate! If it's not that hot, it should just be called room-temperature chocolate or something!!” Undyne insisted. “I made myself a cup, too! It's not that hot, watch!”

Alphys watched in horror as she took her own steaming mug and chugged it, only stopping andfter it was ¾ gone. She tried to mask the obvious pain in her eyes as she spoke again.

“Okay, maybe a TINY bit too hot,” she murmured, clearly holding back tears. “I'll be right back.”

She went to the sink, stuck her head under the faucet, and drank ice cold tap water.

Alphys couldn't help but laugh, especially since the sink was a bit too low for her girlfriend to not look awkward leaning into it. When she was done, she looked back at the reptilian monster and gave a thumbs up, accompanied with her usual large smile. Alphys smiled back, returning the thumbs up, before thanking her again and going back to her work while she let her own drink cool. By now, the camera had come back on. Like usual, she cringed as Sans hit the wall. As she watched him lay on the ground, limp for a few second before moving slowly and awkwardly. She avoided looking at his leg, which was bent at an odd angle. He seemed dazed, like he barely knew what was going on. She couldn't tell if he was saying something or not from his permanent grin, but she could tell he was in pain. She wondered what was going on with Papyrus and Gaster off-frame. She finally saw Papyrus running to Sans, but not fast enough as the section fell. She watched the skeleton desperately try to lift it off of his brother, who had passed out. His arms and hands strained, the grey powder occasionally falling from--

Wait.

 

_What._

 

Alphys quickly paused the tape, rewinding it a few seconds. She played it again, only to pause it at the right moment. She squinted her eyes, looking at the screen a bit closer. Still unable to see it clearly, she took a screenshot and began editing. She zoomed in, adjusted the settings a bit, and she finally had a clear view of what she was hoping was her imagination.

There, on the computer screen, was Papyrus pulling with all his might to lift the section of wall, and dust falling from his torso. Not dust from the wooden parts of the wall, and certainly not Sans’s dust. It was a strange grey color, unlike the usual white of normal monster dust, but she couldn't think of anything else it could be.

Papyrus was covered in dust. Gaster had mysteriously gone missing. Papyrus was covered in dust. There were hardly any traces of Gaster back at the core. Papyrus was covered in dust. Everyone had overlooked the scattered pile of grey dust on the ground, thinking it was from the wall. Papyrus was covered in dust.

Alphys felt like she was going to be sick. She found out what happened to Gaster. She had been trying for so long, but now that she had, it didn't feel good. She didn't feel like celebrating and telling everyone else. She felt like she had to keep it a secret. She felt like she shouldn't tell anyone, for Papyrus’ sake. She felt sick. She closed out of the edited screenshot. She felt sick. She completely shut down her monitor. She felt sick. She stared at the mug in front of her, no longer wanting to drink it. She felt sick.

Papyrus murdered Gaster.

* * *

 

“So, yeah uh..” Papyrus began awkwardly, “That’s pretty much what happened.”

Sans had no readable expression, then again he rarely ever did.

“I know, it's.. It's awful. Just please, _please_ don't tell anyone. I don't-- I don't want anyone else to know. Please.”

His eyelights were completely out. He felt like his thoughts were going 100 miles per second.

“I don't even know if _I_ can believe it very well. It all just happened so fast, and..”

Gaster wasn't ‘somewhere out there.’ Gaster wasn't ‘running free.’

“And I didn't even mean to do it! Trust me, I really didn't, I swear! He tried to attack me but, I just, I don't know, reacted..?”

Gaster was _dead_.

“And--- And now I can't even function correctly anymore. I should have broken the rules when you were fighting! Then none of this would have even happened!”

And Papyrus killed him.

“This is all my fault! I'm the reason you need a wheelchair to get around, I'm the reason he's dead, I'm the reason you've all been far too stressed lately, if it weren't for me everything would be-”

“fucking awful.”

Papyrus blinked, not having expected to be interrupted. “..What?”

“if it weren't for you,” Sans said, eyelights back, but dim, “everything would be fucking awful.”

The taller skeleton looked at him, confused.

“look, pap..” He sighed, attempting to adjust himself so that he was putting more weight on the door than his arm. He couldn't get a good position without sliding down, so he gave up. “the fact that.. all this.. happened, doesn't mean that you're a bad person. that garbage truck of an old man had it comin’, anyway. he fucked up too much in life to even accept your mercy. a person like him didn't even deserve mercy in the first place.”

“But no one deserves to die, Sans!” Papyrus said, shocked.

“some people do.”

“No!! Everyone deserves a second chance!”

“you gave him about 9 ‘second chances,’ papyrus. he blew all of them like a pornstar who needs to pay rent,” he said, laughing at his own analogy. The laugh had no humor behind it. He sighed again. “you don't remember anything about ‘im, but i remember pretty much everything. ‘guess good memory’s both a blessing and a really shitty curse.”

“Can you tell me about him?”

Sans froze.

“You don't have to if you don't want to, I mean!” Papyrus quickly said, already feeling bad. “I just think.. if I know more about him, it might feel a bit better, I don't know.”

“no, it's fine,” Sans said. He let loose a long sigh. “i just-- i wasn't expecting it. i can tell you about him. everything.”

Papyrus perked up, looking at his brother expectantly.

“alright, then. hope you're comfy, ‘cause this is gonna be one hell of a ride.”

 


	4. Second Chances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The full story of the skelebros' childhood. Definitely everything. No hiding here. Everything is finally explained.
> 
> !!! LOTS OF WARNINGS !!!
> 
> Child abuse, alcoholism, amputation like always, gun, death, and probably some things I got wrong. Again, feel free to correct me at any time!

It started out great.

On December 20th, 3089 a skeleton baby came into the world. He cried and cried, and was met with gentle arms.

“He's adorable,” a deep voice said, seeming as if it were bursting with pride.

“He's _ours_ ,” another voice, a female’s, said back with an equal amount of pride.

“What should his name be?”

“We need to figure out his font, Dingus,” the female voice teased. The insult seemed playful. “Don't you know how skeleton babies work?”

“Well, of course I do!” The man’s voice was filled with overly-dramatic offense. “I was just saying we could name him something else! Like, uhh..”

“Don't say anything to do with science. We will not name our child Mitochondria.”

“But it's a good name, Henny! And! If he ever got arrested he could be the powerhouse of the cell! Get it?”

The woman didn't answer, but the baby began laughing and giggling.

“See? He likes that name!”

“He doesn't even know what we're saying.”

“Maybe he does and you're just living through him.”

“Nah.”

“Yah.”

The two shared a brief kiss, and the baby began babbling.

“He’s quiet. A lowercaser, it seems..?” The man remarked.

“Uh-huh,” the woman said. “His font’s pretty goofy. Comic Sans, one of the most hated for design.”

“Poor little soul,” the man said in mock-remorse. “Comic Sans Aster. He _certainly_ won't get teased for that name. Mitochondria is better, in my honest opinion.”

“Another one of your ‘honest opinions’ is that pineapple belongs on pizza.”

“And I stand by that statement.”

* * *

 

August 12, 3095.

Sans played with his toys, flying his rocket ship through the air like he had seen in the old movies his dad had brought from the dump. He paid no attention as his parents entered the room, but snapped out of it when he heard the sound of a baby crying. He put down the rocket ship, looking over curiously. He saw a bundle of rags in his mom’s arms, except it was a really _loud_ bundle of rags.

“mama,” he asked, “why’re those rags screaming?”

His parents both smiled at each other.

“Why don't you come over and find out?” His mother suggested. Sans got up and walked over, adjusting his striped shirt a bit. His mother was pretty short, so he didn't have to stretch much to see what she was holding. In the bundles was a small, skeletal face. The tiny skeleton was screaming his figurative lungs out, as if he had stubbed his toe.

“Sans, meet your new little brother,” his father said. “His name is Papyrus.”

Sans looked at the tiny skeleton, then at his dad, his mom, and back at the bundle. He seemed very surprised.

“Do you want to hold him?” His mom asked. He nodded, and she showed him the correct way to hold his baby brother. He was prepared to hold the baby a bit further away, due to the screaming, but to his surprise, he stopped screaming almost as soon as he touched his older brother’s arms.

“I think he likes you,” his mother said, smiling with pride.

“What do you think, Sans?” His father asked, also smiling.

Sans took a moment to think about the baby in his arms. He looked at the blankets, the baby’s plump, happy face and came to a conclusion.

“he looks like a bean,” he said matter-of-factly. “or a really lumpy potato. but mostly a bean.”

His parents looked at him for at moment, not sure how to react. Then, they started laughing.

“Good observation!” his mother said between laughs. He didn't understand why they were laughing, but he smiled anyway.

* * *

 

The next few years were great. Of course, tiresome and stressful at times, but that always comes with childhood as well as parenthood. Sans and Papyrus would play often, despite the age gap. Their parents loved eachother to no end, and the two children would complain and pretend to be grossed out whenever the two lovers kissed in front of them. Sans already seemed to have stopped growing, ending up the same height as his mother. Papyrus, meanwhile, was as tall as both of them at the same age as Sans was when they both met for the first time. Their very tall father loved to call them “the three dwarves,” to which they would complain about every time. There would be fights, most of the time between Sans and their dad, rarely Papyrus and Sans. Sans would want to do something, or more likely get in trouble in school, and their father would not tolerate it. Papyrus would hang out with his mother when the two were fighting. The family wasn't perfect, as no families are, but it was comfortable.

And then it wasn't.

* * *

 

The woman held the hand of both of her children, walking through Waterfall. They were on their way to visiting Gerson, a family friend. Of course, they got strange looks. Not only were skeletons a very rare minority in the underground, but they were all very short. Papyrus still had hope, but Sans and their mother both knew they would never surpass their current height. So, the three dwarves ignored the stares and kept walking.

“SOMEDAY, I'M GONNA BE PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD! JUST LIKE GERSON!” Papyrus beamed. He was an uppercaser, of course. He was also dead-set on becoming every job there was to offer underground. “AND THEN I'LL RUN A SHOP! AND I'LL ALSO BE A PROFESSIONAL PUZZLER! ALSO, I'LL BE A BOAT PERSON! AND A KING! OKAY MAYBE NOT A KING, BUT-”

“ **_Freeze, dirty monsters!”_ **

The three stopped. They turned around slowly, all equally confused. Their mother tensed up. Standing there was a human, with a cowboy hat atop their head and holding a gun. The gun was aiming right towards the three. The mother turned around completely.

“Sans, Papyrus, get behind me,” she ordered. The two did as they were told, kneeling behind her.

The human stared the woman down, taller than her by about a foot.

“With how runtish y’all are, I almost forgot why I'm doin’ this,” they remarked. “But I know what you monsters’ve done. What y’all’ve been doin’. An’ it's _disgusting_. Murderin’ innocent kids for yer own selfish needs. Y’all need some justice in yer hearts.”

“Go get Gerson. _Quick!”_ Their mother whispered to them behind her back. Papyrus didn't hesitate as he scrambled up and ran. The human fired at him, but missed and he was gone. Sans wasn't as fast. He hesitated a second before running, and managed to trip on a rock that had been jutting out of the ground. The human took aim and fired. He braced himself against the ground, squeezed his eyes shut, and--

His mother grunted in pain.

He slowly opened his eyes to see his mother standing over him, standing in a position that told him she had just barely gotten there in time. He could only see her back, but something told him it wasn't good at all.

“mo..m..?” He asked, voice trembling. His mother turned around, a mixture of pain, rage, and sorrow in her eyes.

“Run, Sans.”

“but-”

“I said RUN!”

He scrambled up, and ran as fast as he could. He didn't pay attention to where he was going, as long as it was _away_. He only stopped when he managed to reach Hotland, and even then he kept running until he got to the lab. He ran inside, and ran straight to his father, who was working at the table.

**_“Dad!!”_ ** He said, raising his voice as much as it could go with him being a lowercaser. He didn't even notice how hard he was breathing or how much he was crying until his dad dropped everything he was working on to see what was wrong. “m-m-mom’s hurt, dad she’s--” he took a large, shaky breath, “--sh-she’s really hurt, a-and I think Gerson’s on his way buu-ut she-the human- I--” He broke into sobbing.

“She's hurt?!” His father exclamed. “And did you say _human_?!” Sans nodded quickly. “Where?”

“w-waterfall,” the young skeleton whimpered, “b-but, dad, _please_ , don't get h-hurt.”

“I won't, I won't,” the elder skeleton reassured. “Just stay here and try to calm down. I'll be back soon, I promise.”

He hugged his son tight for a second before releasing and storming out the door, leaving Sans in the lab, crying and trying to convince himself that this was all just all horrible nightmare.

* * *

 

Two days later.

The news all over the underground was that a human had been captured. There was also some gossip going around about that peculiar skeleton family. It seemed to be missing something, not to mention the father, the royal scientist, was currently healing from a bad blow to the head. The brothers looked to be in a mourning state, much unlike how they were usually the happiest children underground. While the rest of the underground rejoiced, there was a large cloud of tension in the air above their household.

* * *

 

Two months later.

Sans had fallen far behind in school. The royal scientist hadn't been very happy about that. He reasoned that if he could continue his work after his wife's death, his son should be able to do the same. Sans didn't agree. The two began fighting much more often. Papyrus locked himself in his room, no longer able to distract himself like he normally would when his mother was around. He tried to nap through the yelling, tried doing puzzles, just tried _ignoring_ it. Nothing worked.

Occasionally, his father would get mad at him for things that he had never gotten in trouble for before. He felt like it was to be expected, as the doctors had told him and his brother how head injuries could affect someone’s emotions drastically. It still hurt. He also would find empty glass bottles around the house and lab where his father worked, but he had no clue what they were from. He had never seen any kind of drink that looked like that before, except for when his father held it in his hand when yelling at one of the brothers. Papyrus decided that that drink was bad, and he would never have any of it for as long as he lived.

* * *

 

Two years later.

Sans had gotten used to the awful person the royal scientist had become by now. After all, the two fought enough to know each other like the back of their hands. He had even been hit quite a few times. And when Papyrus was the victim, he would jump in and take it for himself. He didn't understand why everything had turned out so awful. He knew it was because of the head injury, but that was only half correct. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was because of the resemblance both the brothers shared to their parents. Sans to their mother, and Papyrus to the royal scientist. Of course, it wasn't an exact match, but it was obviously there. Perhaps the scientist hated Sans for looking like his dead wife, and Papyrus for looking like himself. And that just made Sans loathe him even more. It didn't help that the old man was drunk half the time, now.

One day, he knew for a fact that his father was gone. There was nothing left of the man who had helped him exist, but merely a hungover scientist who thought he knew everything in his place. It took him a while, but he stopped calling him “Dad.”

That was the day that Gaster had taken both the brothers down into the true lab, and down a long hallway. They had never been allowed down there before, so Sans had reason to be suspicious. The man had to be planning something. He led them to a room with a shabby bunk bed inside, a small cupboard, and a desk. Nothing else.

“You two will be staying here from now on. If you have any objections, I don't care,” the scientist said. “You won't need a suitcase or anything, considering you likely will not ever leave.”

“i’m sorry, what? you can't just trap us down here,” Sans said, hoping Gaster was joking around, yet knowing he never did anymore. “what about school?”

“I have already informed both your schools that neither of you will be attending class for the rest of the years.”

“what? you can't just _force_ us to drop out of school!”

“Clearly, I can.”

Before the smaller skeleton could continue protesting, the scientist left the room and locked the door behind him. Sans fumed, flopping down on the bottom bunk of the bed.

“SO, WE'RE JUST GONNA STAY DOWN HERE? FOREVER?” Papyrus asked, confused to the whole situation. He seemed fearful.

“like hell,” the older brother said, making the other gasp at the word, “we’re gonna find a way outta here. he _really_ can't keep us forever. not to mention, whatever he's probably planning on doing to us can't be good. once we get out, we could have him arrested for like, everything.”

“WHAT DO YOU THINK HE'S GOING TO DO WITH US?”

“like i said, whatever it is, it isn't good. i’m not gonna go into detail on what i think is gonna happen.”

Papyrus huffed, sitting down next to Sans.

“HE CAN'T HURT YOU, RIGHT? YOU HAVE THAT HP PROBLEM.”

“mental damage is different than physical damage. but, technically, i guess he can't hurt me _super_ bad. sure, a few slaps are apparently a-ok, but anything else probably isn't.”

“HM.”

They sat there in silence for a long while, both thinking of ways to escape as well as what the heck Gaster was planning on doing to them.

It was much worse than anything they ever could have thought of.

* * *

 

Experiments.

Nearly every day, experiment, experiment, experiment.

Needles, drills, pain, screaming.

An injection of DT mixed with pure cyan magic, or PTNC, as well as yellow, or JSTC.

An injection of pure orange magic, BRV, dark blue magic, ITGR, and green magic, KNDS.

Begging for it all to end, desperate to find a way out.

No escape.

Absolute hopelessness.

Second chances.

* * *

 

“that was..” Sans paused, trying to think of the right word, “hell. absolute hell. he would inject random magic that he thought fit into us and it fucking _hurt_.”

His voice shook, and Papyrus quickly put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Even after all these years, it was obviously still hard for his brother to talk about, especially considering he never even had to before. He tried to wipe his eye sockets, but slipped and managed to awkwardly punch himself in the face, to which he grumbled.

“balance is hard with one limb, heh. ow,” he groaned, rubbing an area above his socket while he lay on the floor.

“Are you alright?” Papyrus asked. He almost felt like he wanted to laugh, but he didn't.

“if ‘accidentally punching myself in the eye’ is alright, then sure,” Sans joked. “nah, i’m fine. this just gets annoying as all fuck sometimes.”

“So he just randomly began doing horrid experiments on us?” The younger asked, getting back on topic. “Did he not feel bad? We _are_ his children, after all.”

“ _were_ his children, pap.”

He winced, slightly shrinking into himself.

“shit, sorry. salt in the wound,” the older said, sounding guilty. “forgot that you..” He cleared his throat awkwardly as an excuse to not finish the sentence. “anyway, if he felt sorry at all, he damn didn't show it. he just always had this blank expression on his face, like he couldn't feel anything. it pissed me off, honestly, that we could tell he didn't care how much he was hurting us. i think i fought with him about 13 times a week.” He laughed softly, but there was no actual humor behind it.

“How did you stand up to him?”

“woah, hey, don't give _me_ all the credit. you're the one who actually got to him, i could tell. i noticed he always went a bit easier on you when you said you'd believe in him no matter what. your speeches were, _are_ powerful,” Sans remarked.

“They aren't _that_ good and you know it.”

“papyrus, you convinced him to take us with him through the core. if it weren't for you, we'd still be down in the lab.”

“..What?”

“what? did i say somethin’ dumb?”

“What happened at the core?”

The other skeleton completely froze, but Papyrus could tell that he was thinking rapidly of ways to lie. Of course, even after all of this, his brother would still lie to him. After he literally confessed to patricide, his brother still refused to tell him the actual truth. He frowned, slightly hurt.

“He..” Sans paused, still thinking. “..jumped. right over the edge. i guess he just couldn’t handle ‘mself anymore. i thought he.. thought he died. but, looks like i was wrong at the time.”

“Why are you lying to me?” Papyrus asked suddenly, surprising himself. He had told himself he would ignore it. _Why wasn’t he ignoring it?_

“..what?” His brother said hesitantly, looking surprised.

“I’m not an _idiot_ , Sans. I can tell when you’re lying. You pause and I can practically _see_ you thinking up excuses.” He kept going. Why did he keep going? “And _now_ , of all times, you choose to lie? I literally _killed_ him, and you have the _nerve_ to-”

He stopped himself mid-sentence, seeing his brother’s face. The smaller skeleton looked like he was just slapped.

“Sorry, sorry!!” He quickly apologized, immediately feeling like an awful person. “It’s just-- You- Ugh, how do I even _say_ this?”

“pap, papyrus, dude, stop,” his brother intervened. “i get it. i didn’t think it was _that_ obvious to see through- not that i’m lying _now_ \- and i’m sorry, alright? i didn’t know how much it- how much it hurt you.”

Papyrus wanted to believe him, but he couldn’t. He wanted to forgive him, but he couldn’t. Instead, he felt a sense of annoyance and anger. Sans didn’t get it _at all_. If he said that sentence he knew he was going to-

“i just wanted to protect you.”

God dammit.

“You wanted to _protect me_?” He echoed. “What makes you think I need protecting?”

“i-”

“No, actually, spare me the time! Let me guess,” Papyrus kept talking, anger rising. “I need protecting because I’m naive, because I don’t know how the world _really_ works, right? Because I can’t handle myself, right?”

“pap-”

“I’m literally going to turn twenty-two in, like, four months!! I’m not a _child_ !” He wanted to stop. He kept talking. “Literally _everyone_ has always treated me like a little kid who can’t be allowed to know anything. I’m supposed to believe that you _weren’t_ lying about Gaster, after how many times you’ve lied about so many things? Hell, you don’t even tell me if someone’s dead! You only say that they ‘went on vacation!’ How do you expect me to believe you when you lie about _everything_ to me?”

He wanted so badly to stop. He felt awful, looking at his brother’s hurt expression. It was rare that Sans even let himself look so expressive, and that Papyrus was making him show _that_ feeling hurt like crazy. And yet, he couldn’t stop talking, practically yelling at his brother now.

“You can’t expect me to believe you about _everything_ ! The fact that you would even _think_ of lying about something like this baffles me! What the hell makes you think that you could get away with that?”

“i’m not-”

“‘You’re not lying.’ Is that it? Is that what you were going to say?” He interrupted yet again, more annoyed by the minute. “I’m not stupid. I _know_ that what you told me isn’t the truth, Sans. So just _tell me already.”_

He stopped, finally giving his brother a chance to speak. It was only then that Sans stopped showing that hurt expression, replacing it with a guarded one that was nearly completely unreadable. There was a long pause.

An unbearably long pause.

“Well?”

“i..”

Another pause as Sans kept thinking of how to lie his way out, just like always.

“..i..”

Don’t. God, don’t.

“...i’m not lying. not about this.”

Papyrus groaned loudly, fed up. He got up, not even looking at his brother until he was at his full height. Even then, he glared down at the other.

“I’m done,” he said. “Move. You’re in the way of the door.”

“but pap-”

“If you won’t move I won’t hesitate to make you.”

 

God, _what was he doing?_

  
Sans didn’t move. The two just stood there for a few seconds, as if they were engaged in a secret staring contest. Finally, the taller of the two sighed angrily and loudly before opening the door and causing Sans to fall over as he shoved passed him. He closed the door behind him, leaving Sans on his own. He didn’t look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will you ever find out the name of their mom? Probably not. Unless you do some really lazy digging, I guess. Just look for a font that's kinda referenced. Also I'm literally making this up as I go so it's getting kinda hard lmao--


	5. Exposed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are finally explained. 
> 
> Mostly.
> 
>  
> 
> I can't think of many warnings that haven't already been stated, so just read the tags and there ya go-

Papyrus went straight out of the house, trying to ignore his own thoughts telling him to get his bony butt back into that room and help his brother. He also knew that that wouldn't be effective. As bad as he felt, he was still mad, no, _furious_ that Sans would lie to him about something like this. Even after he had known it wouldn't work, he lied _anyway_. Papyrus had been closer than he would have liked to completely yelling, if it weren't for the others. But now that he was outside, it was a bit better. A walk in the dark probably couldn't be so bad. Sure, it was still late at night, but that only meant more alone time. He couldn't see very well, but he didn't care. He walked and walked, straying far from the house. He used his phone as a flashlight so that he didn't end up getting hurt, although he wouldn't complain if he did. He already knew he would be staying out there for a very long time before he decided to head home.

* * *

 

Sans attempted to get to his wheelchair, but he just couldn't. He couldn't tell whether it was because he only had one arm to work with or that he felt like absolute garbage. Had he really made Papyrus so mad? All he wanted to do was keep his little brother from knowing-

Wait.

It was then when Sans realized just how stupid he was being. He facepalmed. Of _course_ Papyrus would be mad, dammit. He literally _killed_ Gaster, which was probably eating him from the inside out. He told his older brother something so serious and important, but when it was Sans’s turn to do the same? He lied. Even when he knew it wouldn't work, he lied. He had believed this entire time that Papyrus didn't know when he was lying. He had always believed that he was good at making up excuses, but he was wrong. He had made his brother so mad to the point of cursing, something he only really did when he was annoyed and/or livid. All he had to do was tell the dumb truth, but instead he had made Papyrus feel like he couldn't be trusted. He had probably made Papyrus feel like he couldn't tell him anything again because of this. _How_ did Sans not catch on? Why did he keep lying? Why didn't he at least _try_ to tell the truth? It wasn't even that far from what Papyrus told him. 

All he had to say was that he threw Gaster into the core. Was that really so hard?

* * *

 

The sun had already come up by the time Undyne knocked at the door. 

“come in,” Sans’s voice said, sounding tired. 

She opened the door to see him lying on the floor next to his wheelchair, looking as if he completely gave up on moving.

“Woah, okay then,” she said, smirking a bit. “Why the hell are you on the floor?” 

“because shit happens and i only have one limb,” the skeleton said back. 

After some more teasing, Undyne finally helped him onto his wheelchair.

“I actually came in here to check on Papyrus,” she said. “That nightmare seemed pretty intense if he woke up screaming like that. Looks like I’m too late, though. Where’d he go?”

“we ended up having a fight, so he just kinda stormed out and then i was on the floor for the rest of the night. my guess is that he's somewhere by the city or the forest. ‘think he likes hangin’ there, but at this point i’m probably wrong about everything.” 

“A fight..?” 

“asster. you know the basics.”

“You still haven't told him what you did?” 

“i’ll get around to it in a couple decades.”

“He's your _brother_ . Why the hell did you tell Alphys and I the whole story instead of _him_?!”

“i told _alphys_ the whole story. _She_ told _you_.” 

“The question still stands.”

“it doesn't matter.” 

Her fins flared slightly. “It doesn't _matter_?! Sans, what the _fuck_ are you talking about?!” She asked, voice rising in volume. “Of _course_ it matters! He's your _brother_ , and you told other people what you did instead of him! What the hell is wrong with you?!” 

“undyne, stop.” 

“NO!! Haven't you two known eachother for, like, your whole damn lives? You shouldn't keep secrets like _this_ from each other!”

“undyne.”

“For fuck’s sake, he should've been the _first_ one to know, but noOOOOooOoO, apparently my girlfriend’s gonna write your biography! Just _tell him_ \--”

**“s t o p .”**  

She froze. Something about that tone sent a chill down her spine as she looked at Sans. The skeleton’s sockets were dark and he seemed to cave in on himself. If he wasn't feeling guilty before, he was now. _Good_ , Undyne thought, _he fucking deserves to be guilty._  

“I'm gonna go find him,” she said, getting ready to walk out the door. “Let me know when you're ready to stop being an ass.” 

With that, she walked right out. Sans sighed loudly. This was going to be a very, very long day.

* * *

 

When Undyne walked down the stairs looking like she was close to snapping someone’s neck, Alphys was concerned, to say the least.

“Wh-what happened?” She asked. She already knew, of course, having heard the yelling, but she would have rather not had Undyne know she was listening.

“Sans STILL hasn't told Papyrus what he did to Wing Dick!! It's fucking dumb!!” Undyne said back loudly. Toriel glared at her from the kitchen, where she and Frisk were fixing breakfast. “Alright, sorry, but I'm still PISSED!! And apparently Pap ran off to either the city or the forest, two of the most different places ever!!” 

“I'm g-guessing you're gonna go after him?” Alphys asked.

“Well, DUH! What else would I do?!” 

“You can't go to the forest and the city at once!” Frisk piped up, not even hiding that they were listening. “You could check one place, and he could move! We should split up instead!” 

“G-good idea!” Alphys agreed. She was going to offer to help, anyway, but only because she felt she needed to confront Papyrus about her recent discovery.  

“Alright, uh, Alphys, you take the forest! And I'll do the city! Now let's go!!” Undyne said impatiently, heading for the door. Her girlfriend followed after her. 

“No no, wait!” Frisk said, stopping them both. “I'm coming too, darnit! It was my idea!” 

“U-uh, Frisk, d-don’t you think you're a bit y-young..? You should probably be a bit older before w-wa-wandering around on your own,” Alphys said, truly just wanting to talk to Papyrus alone. Frisk pouted.

“Alphys, I'm almost 14 years old. Besides,” they took the two monsters by the sleeves, “I can go with one of you!”

“Alright, alright! I'll be fine on my own, so go with Al! Now let's _go!!”_ Undyne sounded more impatient by the second. 

“Hold on a second,” Toriel said, causing Undyne to groan loudly in annoyance. She was cut off, however, when tupperware containers were handed to the three of them. They contained bacon, toast, and strawberries. “You have to eat your breakfast. That's all!” 

“Thanks, Mom!” Frisk said. The other two thanked her as well, and then, _finally,_ they set off on their quest to find a skeleton in a forest or city. Since Papyrus was the only one with a driver's license, they took bikes, much to Alphys’ dismay. Undyne set off toward the city with her toast hanging from her mouth like an anime schoolgirl on a mission to disarm a bomb, while her girlfriend and Frisk went to the forest.

* * *

 

It had been a long while of biking around the forest before Frisk managed to spot and point out a hunched figure by a tree in the distance. As the two got closer, they could see its skull reflecting the sunlight, the red MTT-brand sweatshirt, and ripped jeans and immediately knew it was who they were looking for.  

“Should I call Undyne?” Frisk asked. 

“Not yet,” Alphys answered, shaking her head. “I-I wanna try talking to him ab-about something first.”

“Oh uh, okay.”

Papyrus seemed to be leaning against the tree, eyes open but staring at nothing. There was also a small white dog lying down next to him, his hand petting it subconsciously. He didn't react when the human and reptile monster stopped their bikes in front of him. 

“Hey, Papyrus!” Frisk said, cheerfully yet gentle at the same time. The skeleton finally snapped out of it, looking directly at the pair. He tensed up. “You don't have to worry, it's just us,” the human reassured. 

“A-actually, um,” Alphys awkwardly began, “I-I know you aren't talking to me yet, and th-that’s completely fine! But, uhh, I kinda need t-to.. to talk to you, P-Papyrus. It's r-really important.”

The skeleton immediately looked caught off guard and alarmed. Perhaps he knew that she found out..? No, not possible. He obviously didn't _mean_ to do what he did, right? He slowly nodded, not saying a word. 

A pause. 

“U-um, Frisk, could you..?” 

“Oh! Right, sorry! I'll leave you alone for now,” they said, and walked off to leave the two monsters alone to talk. Alphys hoped they were out of earshot. 

“S-sorry for kinda, um, th-throwing you into this, I j-just..” She began, voice fading out. How would you even start something that would lead to accusing someone of murder? 

“IT'S FINE,” Papyrus suddenly spoke up, surprising her. His voice was hoarse. “WH.. WHAT DID YOU WANT TO UM, TALK ABOUT..?”

His speech sounded unnatural, and it appeared that even he knew it. He had spoken to her before he was comfortable with it, and it made her feel somehow more awful than she already did. 

“I..” She began, “I-I’ll just get to the point, I guess. I w-was looking th-through the camera footage, of when, um, y-you know, and I s-saw..”

Papyrus completely froze up. 

“I s-saw you, um, no, wait, I..” She found it hard to spit out. Papyrus seemed to have put on a guarded expression, and so she had no clue what he was feeling at the moment. “I um, there was, uhh-” 

“JUST SAY IT ALREADY, ALPHYS,” he interrupted, impatient yet worried.

“Th-there was dust all over you! And i-it was grey, like that weird scattered pile thing w-we found in the core!” she blurted. “And G-Gaster just happened to disappear and, and…” 

She expected him to cry, yell, act alarmed, react in _literally any way_ , and yet he just sat there. The only sign that he had heard the accusation at all was when he began messing with the sleeves of his shirt. 

“A-again, I’m r-really sorry, but.. Did you actually…?”

She paused. 

“Did you really kill him?” 

The sound of fabric ripping seemed to be his answer. Alphys looked over to see a sizable rip in the skeleton’s sleeve as he froze up, the tip still in his fingers. She noticed he was shaking. After a moment of silence, he brought his knees to his chest. The dog next to him seemed confused as to why the petting had stopped, but made no effort to get more. In fact, it appeared to be listening..? 

“I didn’t mean to,” Papyrus said, voice quieter than the other monster had ever heard it before. “I.. I swear I didn’t.”

“O-oh my god, Papyrus,” Alphys said, hardly able to believe what she was hearing. “I-..I can’t believe that.. That _you_ -”

“Don’t tell anyone!” He interrupted. “Please, please don’t. I only just recently told Sans, and that went just _peachy._ I don’t want anyone else to know.” 

“I-I won’t, I promise. I g-get that it was an accident, y-you would never do something like that on _purpose_ ,” she reassured. She knew better than most about keeping secrets about awful things. “I’m s-sorry Sans.. I’m sorry he acted like that. You deserve to know the truth.” 

“It just doesn’t make sense!” He said, furrowing his brow. “I tell him what might be the _worst_ secret I could possibly _ever_ have, and he STILL lies to me! He treats me like some child, even though I literally _killed_ someone!!”

Alphys was immediately on Papyrus’s side once he said that. She knew different people dealt with situations differently, but that was still a dick move on Sans’s part.

“But, I guess,” the skeleton continued, “if no one else knows then.. It isn’t as bad..? I don’t know.” 

Welp, if she wasn’t already feeling guilty, she would have drowned in her own guilt then and there.

“A-actually, uh..” She began nervously. He seemed to immediately get what she was implying, somehow.

“No,” he said, frowning as he looked at her. “No way. He didn’t.”

“I-I’m really, really sorry! I don’t get why he told me b-before you but it just do-doesn’t make sense! You _deserve_ to know!” 

“Well, _tell me then_!” He blurted, a tad too loud. Alphys froze up. 

“I..” She hesitated. 

Papyrus stared expectantly.

“I don’t know i-if I should.. B-before Sans-”

“He’s obviously not gonna tell me any time soon!” He interrupted. “ _Please,_ Alphys. I _need_ to know what happened at the core that he won’t tell me. Please.”

She hesitated again.

“...Okay.”

* * *

 

“I REMEMBER YOU BEING A.. A LOT BETTER OF A PERSON. BEFORE ALL OF THIS. WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT?”

Gaster locked his eyes onto the paper before him, trying desperately to ignore the smaller skeleton sitting across from him. 

“I KNOW YOU’RE STILL A GOOD PERSON, OF COURSE, I’M JUST CONFUSED. IT SEEMS LIKE YOU’RE TRYING TO HIDE THAT PART OF YOURSELF. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO HIDE THAT?” 

His frown deepened. He couldn’t get himself to ignore the other. He hated that Papyrus looked quite a bit like him as a child, no, _teen_ now, and still have such a good soul. No matter what hell the scientist put him through, he tried hard to steer the other into the right direction.  

“EVERY DAY YOU HURT SANS AND I, BUT YOU USED TO BE SO NICE. YOU CALLED US ‘THE THREE DWARVES..’ HEHE.. AND THEN MOM..” His voice faded out, but came right back. “I KNOW YOU CAN GO BACK TO THAT! YOU JUST HAVE TO TRY!” 

“Just do your work, Papyrus..” Gaster said blankly. “I don’t have the time for this nonsense at the moment.” 

“I’M JUST SAYING, YOU COULD AT LEAST TAKE US OUT OF THE LAB SOME TIME. IT GETS BORING DOWN HERE, EVEN WHEN YOU MAKE THOSE PUZZLES FOR US. I’VE PRETTY MUCH FORGOTTEN WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE UP THERE.”

“Oh well, you’ll have to deal with it. I’m not going to take you up there.” 

“WHAT ABOUT THAT ‘CORE’ THING YOU ALWAYS TALK ABOUT ON THE PHONE THING? FROM THE WAY YOU TALK ABOUT IT, IT SEEMS KINDA CLOSED OFF. JUST SOMEWHERE DIFFERENT WOULD BE GOOD ENOUGH.” 

“No.”

“PLEASE?”

“It’s far too dangerous.” 

“HOW CAN IT BE MORE DANGEROUS THAN DOWN HERE? I THOUGHT DANGER WAS A GOOD THING, BECAUSE IT TESTED OUR ABILITIES AND ENDURANCE? MOST OF OUR PUZZLES HAVE A LOT OF FIRE AND SPIKES. I REMEMBER THE TIME I BROKE MY FOOT ON ONE-”

“ _No._ ” 

“BUT JUST THINK ABOUT IT! SANS HAS BEEN REALLY DOWN IN THE DUMPS LATELY, YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT! A TRIP SOMEWHERE ELSE WOULD PROBABLY REALLY HELP!” 

That actually made him pause. Perhaps that _would_ improve the older brother’s performance on tests. Sans had seemingly given up on fighting, given up on the hope that they would ever leave. While Gaster knew it was true, he had noticed the significant lack of participation Sans was doing on puzzles, tests, and examinations, while Papyrus gave it his absolute all. It was annoying.

“YOU PAUSED. DOES THAT MEAN YOU’RE ACTUALLY CONSIDERING IT?” Papyrus asked, voice hopeful. The only answer he got was a long sigh, which eventually lead to the elder skeleton rising from his seat. He took a key card out of his lab coat’s pocket, and handed it over to the other. 

“Go get your brother,” he said reluctantly. Papyrus’s face completely lit up as he smiled wide with excitement before running off to the small, locked off room the two shared. Not long after, he returned, holding his brother by the wrist. The young adult looked confused, to say the least. 

“what’s goin’ on?” Sans asked, looking up at the scientist suspiciously. 

“Follow me,” Gaster said, choosing not to give a direct answer. Papyrus, beaming with happiness, tugged his older brother along close behind. They got into an elevator. 

“wait, no freaking way,” Sans said in disbelief. “we’re not actually..?”

Papyrus was practically jumping in ecstasy. Once the elevator got to the top, he hopped out, going a bit too high for what should be possible. Once he was grounded again, he let go of his older brother’s wrist and explored the lab. Sans explored as well, but with much more caution. What the heck was going on..? 

“Ah-ah, not yet,” Gaster said, gathering the two of them closer to him. “This area is not quite secluded enough.” 

Suddenly, they weren’t in the lab any more. Now they were in an area with pipes all around it, making steam and smoke everywhere. It was hot. Sans looked down into the liquid below, and had an idea. For some reason, the clothes Gaster had given them to wear had pockets, in which he kept a pen and paper in case he felt like writing something down. He took out the pen and, curiosity getting the better of him, dropped it down into the core. Before it even hit the liquid, it evaporated from the heat. How the heck does a _pen_ evaporate? Then, he had an idea. An awful idea, a horrible idea, a _murderous_ idea. He hated it, but still wanted to try it. He figured his blue magic was good enough to use against actual people at this point, and had been wanting to test it for weeks. He looked over at Gaster, took a deep breath, and began to concentrate. 

“SANS? WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT DAD LIKE THAT?” 

Have to do it.

“Don’t you like it up here, Sans?” 

Now or never. 

“YOU LOOK MAD. AW, DARN, I THOUGHT YOU’D LIKE- WOAH!! YOUR EYE!!!” 

He could feel his left eye burn with a bright light, too bright, glowing blue, yellow, blue, yellow. It hurt his skull, but he made no sign of pain. Gaster’s soul turned blue, and he was lifted off the ground.

“Woah--!” The elder said, never having experienced what blue magic felt like before. “Put me down this instant, if you know what’s good for you!” 

“SANS, WHAT ARE YOU-” 

“you won’t be able to hurt us ever again,” he said, voice filled with hatred. “not after this. we’ll be free.” 

His voice shook, suspending Gaster over the core with a wave of his hand. 

“SANS?” 

“N-no, don’t you _dare_ -” 

He let go of the soul. Gaster plummeted into the core with a loud scream. 

He was certain the man died. He turned back to his brother, stopping at the look of fear in the younger’s eyes. Papyrus backed up a few feet. They both jumped as an alarm sounded throughout the core. 

**_“WARNING! CORE MALFUNCTIONING! WARNING! CORE MALFUNCTIONING!”_**  

The two looked around in panic, and began to run. As they dashed through the halls of the core, they saw the occasional panicked worker struggling to find the source of the problem. A cat-like monster asked what they were doing there. They didn’t answer. They heard explosions throughout the core, some distant, some close. They almost got to what they figured was the exit, when an area blew up right behind them. 

Sans practically tackled his brother, trying to shield him from the debris and hot liquid raining from above. He squeezed his sockets shut, hoping more than anything that both of them would survive. He could feel Papyrus trembling in his grasp. After all seemed well, they got back up and dashed for the exit, luckily getting out with no permanent injuries, but side effects instead that they would notice much later in time.  

* * *

 

“Th-that’s pretty much all he t-told me,” Alphys said, hoping she cleared _some_ things up. 

Papyrus was silent, brow furrowed in confusion. 

“I still don’t get it, though,” he said. “Why can’t I remember any of it? I was there, but I don’t remember _anything_.”

“I-I can’t really be certain about th-that,” she replied. “Sans also told me how y-you went from being s-scared of him, to slowly warming up to him more and more. Like you forgot e-everything that happened. H-he said by the time you were 18, you two were finally as close as you are n-now. He th-thought you forgave him.” 

The skeleton sighed, not saying much else. He messed with his non-torn sleeve, and took a breath.

“Do you think you can just..” He started, voice quiet, “..leave me alone for a bit? Please? I-I swear I’ll come home, I just-- I need to think this over.” 

She nodded, got up from where she was sitting next to him, and called for Frisk to come back. They inched out from an area not far from where the two were talking, and Alphys’ stomach churned.

They were listening the whole time.

Papyrus seemed to notice this, too, and looked at them with worry in his face. They stared at eachother for a moment, before Frisk frowned, turned away, and got on their bike. They had nearly taken off by the time Alphys got to her own.

* * *

 

Oh that’s just _great._

Not only did Papyrus have to confess to his crime before he was ready, but he had potentially ruined his friendship with the human that freed the entire monster race.

He couldn’t get their look out of his head. The look of pure disappointment and slight anger in their frown, how they left without saying a word. They were justified in feeling that way, of course, and it still hurt. They had been through the worst underground, and still managed to spare even the worst of people. They spared people who attacked them, people who tried with all their might to kill them. Why couldn’t Papyrus have done the same? 

The little white dog nuzzled into him, probably just wanting more pets. The skeleton sighed, and stroked it’s fur. He paused, looking at his hand. He had decided not to wear gloves today, but he wished he had. How had he never noticed the gaping hole that was there? 

“Golly, what a twist!” 

He straightened, turning around sharply. 

“I honestly never would have guessed that _you,_ Papyrus, would kill someone!” 

He looked all around him, unable to find the source of the voice. It seemed to be switching places constantly. 

“And the fact that you didn’t even tell your **_best friend…_** ” 

Finally, he looked up at the being grinning down at him. 

“ **_Why, I’m almost offended._ ** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually really don't like this chapter aaaAAH
> 
> Like?? I messed up so many important plot points in this chapter and the last one?? And I didn't even realize until I finished it??
> 
> Not to mention it took like 10 years for me to actually finish it--
> 
> I feel like I got the pacing all wrong and it feels sloppy.
> 
> I may rewrite this chapter sometime in the future. Blegh.


	6. Apologies

I just want this to have 20,000 words ok

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK so, I guess I need to give an explanation on why I pretty much abandoned this.
> 
> With chapter five, pretty much all of my creativity and motivation abandoned me. Looking at the comments, I feel really bad for not giving any explanation as to why I don't plan on continuing it. I'm really, really sorry for ending on a cliffhanger, but hey! Maybe you can just imagine everything that continues from that point on your own! Hell, you can even write your own continuation of it if you want to! I just can't get myself to add much else to it, no matter how much I try to think of something. This story actually sparked my love of Papyrus, who is now my favorite character. Before writing this, it was actually Sans who I liked most. So while I was still writing this, I had so much fun exploring how little we actually know about our dear skeleson, but I've moved on to other things. Again, I'm really, really sorry to everyone who had fun reading this, and who liked it, and commented and gave kudos, and I'm so, so, SO sorry to have let you down.


End file.
